20% of the 1,778 complaints to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office last year concerned Tusla, further proving the need for an independent review into its standards, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.
Deputy Farrelly said:
“One in five complaints to the Ombudsman for Children’s Office concerned Tusla in 2025. This is indicative of a lack of quality services and repeated failures of our most vulnerable children.
“The volume of complaints regarding a multiplicity of Departments, State Bodies and State services show that there is a broad spectrum of failures to protect and nurture our young people. Nowhere is this more evident than in our Child and Family Agency.
“The complaints related to children in Special Emergency Arrangements, Special Care, residential care, interagency work between services, Education Support Services, access to interventions and support, and concerns from young people about complaint handling.
“The high volume in complaints supports the Social Democrats call for an independent review into Tusla, its day-to-day operations and its governance structures. We must see how the organisation is broken to know how to fix it.
“It’s no surprise to see that some of the complaints related to Special Emergency Arrangements, which are shambolic, unregulated and frankly dangerous substitutes for State care.
“Several judges who are tasked with agreeing arrangements for unaccompanied children and young people have said that the system of Special Emergency Arrangements are unsafe – it’s time we listen to the experts and put an end to this scheme.
“I am reiterating my call for Tusla to end all of its Special Emergency Arrangement contracts – not only are children receiving substandard care in these arrangements, placing them in harm’s way, but the State is paying dozens of millions of euro for that harm every year.
“How many more damning reports like today’s does the Government need to see before it lifts the lid on Tusla’s issues? The Taoiseach understands that the level of dysfunction this would reveal would be a stain on his record, and is kicking it down the road to avoid culpability.
“We must be able to trust Tusla’s governance, its culture, and, most importantly, its operational ability. That trust has been broken too many times.
“We must see an independent review of Tusla at the nearest possible opportunity. Anything less is an abdication of duty to the children in care who are currently in harm’s way.”
May 21st, 2026