It was disgraceful that we were allowing such dangerous facilities to be used for the care of some of our most vulnerable children
The ending of the use of Special Emergency Arrangements by Tusla, which were totally unregulated and unsuitable for vulnerable children, has been welcomed by Social Democrats children’s spokesperson Daniel Ennis.
Deputy Ennis said:
“Special Emergency Arrangements (SEAs) were never fit for purpose and frankly it was disgraceful that we were allowing such dangerous facilities to be used for the care of some of our most vulnerable children, particularly as HIQA had no entitlement to inspect them.
“There were no clear answers to many questions on the quality of care in these facilities such as the qualification of staff; the types of care and activities provided to children and young people and the duration of their stays.
“Speaking at the Oireachtas Children’s Committee last week, Children’s Ombudsman Niall Mudoon said that €38 million had been Spent by the state on private SEA accommodation in 2025 alone, so there was huge reliance on this totally inappropriate accommodation.
“While I welcome this overdue announcement, I would now like to know more about the private temporary placements that Tusla says are “working towards registration”.
“Specifically how long will it be before they are registered, who will be staffing these facilities, what type of care will be offered to children and an assurance that children will be moved out of any facility that fails the registration process?
“There are also obvious questions related to staffing and funding for these accommodation centres, that must also be answered. Namely, has Tusla received additional resources, either funding or staff, to enable it to end SEAs and finally transition to regulated accommodation centres?”