The Ombudsman for Children has called for a full independent assessment of the Government’s homeless Family Hubs.

It comes after children compared living in the hubs to prison.

The ombudsman’s office spoke to 80 children living in family hubs in Dublin, Cork and Limerick.

Children aged from 5 to 17-years-old were asked what they liked, found challenging and what they would change about the hubs.

They praised staff and efforts to provide facilities for them – but raised concern about space, privacy, noise and not being able to have visitors.

Independent evaluation

Children’s Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon said it is now time to carry out an independent formal evaluation of the family hub system to establish how they should be used into the future.

He also called for an express right to housing to be enshrined in the Constitution.

He said there should be a Statutory time limits for how long families are placed in the hubs – and for independent regulation of standards at the facilities.

"Very unnatural"

Dr Muldoon said the children find themselves growing up in a “very unnatural family environment.”

“They talk about the noise that happens between families across the accommodation, where people might be arguing or fighting,” he said.

“Children are very concerned about that.

“They also talk about the lack of privacy – you can imagine a family of four living in one room.”

Homeless

He said the situation can “hamper family life and leave the children with a sense of stigma.”

“They talked about shame and embarrassment and people knowing where they were living as well,” he said.

“It is a really complicated time for those children and 50% of the children in family hubs are under five-years-of-age.

“So they are growing up in a very unnatural family environment.”

He said the State can no longer “allow our children to live with overwhelming feelings of shame, guilt and anger because they are homeless, through no fault of their own.”