The Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY), Chris Quinn, has expressed his concerns about the exploitation of children and young people in Northern Ireland.

Mr. Quinn was speaking following a visit to Erne Integrated College, Enniskillen on Monday morning (February 26).

One area he expressed concerns over was the risk of children and young people who are being exploited being moved across the Border.

Describing the current situation, he said: “Child criminal and child sexual exploitation are issues that are happening, unfortunately, right under our noses.

"I'm really worried about criminal gangs. I'm worried about how children might be getting trafficked and how they might be being used to traffic drugs to sell drugs.

“I'm really worried about sexual exploitation.

“I'm frightened about what's happening. I think we need to call it out for what it is - it's abuse.

"Children are getting abused by criminals and that's happening online, it's happening in communities. We need a more coordinated response to it."

When asked if this is occurring right across Northern Ireland, Mr. Quinn explained that the information he has is all anecdotal, and said: “It appears to be right across [Northern Ireland].

"There's a lot of activity around the bigger towns and cities, but I'm also worried about cross-Border issues because I'm led to believe that there are risks of children getting moved across the jurisdictions.

“I don't have the cold, hard facts, but it's an area that I want to delve deeper into, and try and find more information and raise awareness.”

He continued: “The biggest thing that I am getting [hearing about] about is special educational needs [SEN].

"Education is huge - that's the issue that we hear most complaints about. And within those, special educational needs is the biggest issue within education.

“I think we are in crisis. People don't like using that word, but I think we are in crisis and I'm really worried about September, 2024 [in terms of places for children in the SEN sector].

“While the Education Authority have told me they're doing their best, I have to take that at face value.

"But I am anxious about the number of young people that may not have a place, and I think that we need more facilities for children with special educational needs."

Other issues raised to the Commissioner include poverty and the cost-of-living crisis.

Mr. Quinn said: “Poverty and the cost of living are huge. I don't think that we're hearing enough from Stormont about an anti-poverty strategy.

"There's other, good work going on, like an early learning and childcare strategy. They are talking about reform in terms of social care and education.

"But we need to address the issue of poverty. It's not acceptable that we live in one of the most prosperous economies in the world, and that one in five children are living in poverty here."