Forged references provided for staff at unregulated children’s care homes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential harm of Special Emergency Arrangements, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly.<\/p>\n
Deputy Farrelly said:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to call a halt on these shambolic, unregulated and frankly dangerous substitutes for State care.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is now more than enough evidence to call for the complete suspension of all Special Emergency Arrangement contracts, and that Tusla, as a matter of priority, provides regulated care by professionally qualified people immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Children is presiding over a generational abdication of duty, putting dozens of children at risk.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not TUSLA staff who work in SEAs, and HIQA are not entitled to inspect them. We have a scenario in which these placements are being operated by companies instead of state bodies, and no one can independently ascertain the quality of the services being provided.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeveral 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\u2019s time we listen to the experts and put an end to this scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201c15 companies shared \u20ac56 million in profits from operating Special Emergency Arrangement premises in 2024. Not only are children receiving substandard care in these arrangements, placing them in harm\u2019s way, but the State is paying for that harm.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn October, I wrote to the chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Children and Equality to convene a meeting specifically about Special Emergency Arrangements after the tragic death of Vadym Davydenko in an SEA, and to include an invitation to TUSLA.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Minister for Children and Tusla\u2019s leadership have not provided straight answers to outstanding questions surrounding the qualifications of staff at these sites, the types of care and activities provided for children and young people, the initiatives in place for when trauma manifests itself through violence or other harmful behaviour, the duration of stay for residents, and, ultimately, the rationale for outsourcing this type of provision to third-party contractors.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot continue to put children at risk; these questions must be answered. I am calling on Tusla to suspend all Special Emergency Arrangement contracts before another child gets hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n
April 22nd, 2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Forged references provided for staff at unregulated children’s care homes are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential harm of Special Emergency Arrangements, according to Social Democrats children spokesperson Aidan Farrelly. Deputy Farrelly said: \u201cIt\u2019s time to call a halt on these shambolic, unregulated and frankly dangerous substitutes for State […]<\/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-17363","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