Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis labhairt ar an rún seo. Tá saincheisteanna maidir le Tusla ardaithe agam sa Dáil arís agus arís eile. Níl sé sin ceart go leor. I commend Independent Ireland on bringing this motion to the Dáil. I welcome this opportunity as I have raised issues with regard to Tusla on numerous occasions both here in the Dáil and in the justice committee. It is clear that there are major problems. Children who need the care and protection of the State deserve the highest standards from the State but those standards are not always met. We also need to do much better in supporting young people who are leaving the care of the State. Too many children have gone missing and too many children have died. Last November, thejournal.ie reported that children in Tusla-run homes were reported missing on nearly 7,000 occasions from January 2020 to September 2025. When vulnerable children go missing, they are at severe risk of being exploited or harmed. Unfortunately, there have been high-profile cases of children who have been harmed after they have gone missing. There are major issues in Tusla in relation to staff shortages, over-stretched staff and high staff numbers. Too many vulnerable children have been left without a social worker. This problem is particularly acute in certain regions. Orders for the care of children have been not complied with on all occasions and senior management in Tusla who were aware of these issues failed to take appropriate action. There have been failures to inform the courts that children in care were not allocated a social worker. There have been multiple failures within the agency at all levels and we have a Department that washes its hands. There is long-standing shortage of social workers which is the result of Government failures and a lack planning. HIQA reviews have identified systemic governance issues, including inconsistent practice and delays in service delivery. There have been repeated findings of inadequate oversight and delayed assessments. There have been significant failures when it comes to communication with those whom Tusla interacts with. Tusla’s job is to protect the most vulnerable children in the State, to look after their welfare, to respond to concerns and to provide care services. That organisation, therefore, has to be held to the highest standards. There are lots of questions and we have heard lots of very concerning stories, both during this debate and over a long period of time. That is why concerns about Tusla and its capacity have been to the fore in our consideration of the International Protection Bill, which the Government is currently rushing through the Oireachtas. In the pre-legislative scrutiny report on the Bill, there was a warning that Tusla lacked the staffing, resources and operational capacity to meet what are going to be expanded statutory duties in respect of unaccompanied minors. The Bill is going to increase Tusla’s workload at a time when we know that organisation is under-resourced, overstretched and unable to meet its statutory duties for vulnerable children, including unaccompanied minors. On Committee Stage of the Bill a couple of weeks ago, I tabled a number of amendments to ensure Tusla will have the capacity, resources and staffing for the additional workload, as well as an amendment to end the use of unregulated special emergency arrangements. The Bill is not being progressed by the Minister’s Department, but will she give an indication in her closing remarks about whether it has inputted into this legislation? Given all the failings we have been speaking about, to add additional workload and responsibility onto Tusla at this time is dangerous. There have been significant issues with young people going missing from Tusla care. The majority of those who have gone missing have been unaccompanied minors in the international protection system. More than 1,100 children in Tusla's care were placed in what are called unregulated special emergency arrangements, SEAs, with no HIQA oversight whatsoever. This included the SEA facility where Vadym Davydenko was tragically killed. Last month in Dublin District Court, Judge Conor Fottrell severely criticised profiteering by private operators providing these unregulated placements for the most vulnerable children. He described it as wrong and shameful, and he was absolutely right in that. Notably, it was not the first time that Judge Fottrell or other judges spoke out about the failures of Tusla. It has been reported that Tusla stopped using eight private companies because they did not meet the required standards, and it referred five private operators to the Garda National Vetting Bureau. We know that a large proportion of those housed in special emergency arrangements are separated children seeking international protection and that is specifically why we raised these issues with the Minister, Deputy O’Callaghan, during the debate on international protection. His response was wholly unacceptable, and he is now rushing through legislation and ignoring the reality that State bodies, particularly Tusla, are at breaking point and are not equipped to cope with the additional workloads. These are issues that the Minister, Deputy Foley, has a responsibility to manage as well. One Department is burdening an agency under the control of her Department with significant additional responsibilities. She has a responsibility to inform this House whether she is satisfied that Tusla and her Department will be able to deal with the additional responsibilities that are coming their way.

Sentiment score: -0.12