The government must stop breaking the law when it comes to protecting vulnerable children and act on the latest report recommending reform of the care system, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly, who\u2019s the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAn external review of special care commissioned by Tusla has found that the system is in crisis, with a severe shortage of beds and staffing at the country\u2019s three special care centres.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is far from the first alarm sounded for a dysfunctional special care system – there has been report after report telling how broken these structures are.<\/p>\n
\u201cTusla, the Child and Family Agency, has been hauled before the courts \u2013 on multiple occasions \u2013 for breaking the law by failing to protect vulnerable children.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast week, the tragic consequences of that kind of state failure were highlighted at the inquest of Daniel McAnaspie, who was just 17 when he was murdered.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel had more than 20 care placements in the 15 months prior to his death – three separate applications had been made for him to be placed in secure care accommodation, but all of these were refused due to a lack of beds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince Daniel\u2019s murder, there have been multiple reports and High Court warnings that vulnerable children in a \u201ctsunami\u201d of cases are being put at risk by a system that is breaking at the seams. Yet nothing has been done to stop vulnerable children like Daniel from falling through the cracks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs it stands, there are just 26 beds at the State’s three secure care facilities – Daniel McAnaspie\u2019s inquest was told last week that we need at least 70.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf the 26 available, just 14 are available due to staffing difficulties, and right now, today, there are five children waiting for such a placement – five children whose lives and wellbeing are being consciously endangered by State neglect and failure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government must take immediate action to increase the special care system\u2019s capacity by bolstering staffing levels and creating new beds – adequate salaries and better protection must be introduced to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis in the sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be asking for Tusla to be invited before the Children & Equality Committee to examine the provision of special care and related matters as part of our work programme.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day that passes without measures being taken to end this dire situation, harm is being done – without action, there\u2019s a serious risk of history repeating itself.”<\/p>\n
May 21st, 2025<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The government must stop breaking the law when it comes to protecting vulnerable children and act on the latest report recommending reform of the care system, according to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly, who\u2019s the party\u2019s spokesperson on children, said: \u201cAn external review of special care commissioned by Tusla has found that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[396,540,7,693],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aidan-farrelly","category-children","category-press-release","category-tusla"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n