Скачать или смотреть Children taken by Tusla into State Care missing, trafficked, dead!

𝐓𝐨́𝐢𝐛𝐢́𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐚́𝐧𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭’𝐬 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞

In a scathing assessment of the Government’s record, during the final Leader’s Question before the Dáil goes into recess for the summer, Aontú Leader, Peadar Tóibín delivered a blistering critique in the Dáil, with a particular focus on the failures of Tusla, Ireland’s child and family agency.

He highlighted that 37 children are currently missing from Tusla’s care, and since 2021, 161 children under Tusla’s watch have been referred to Gardaí due to suspicions of child sexual exploitation or trafficking.

More starkly, since 2014, 235 children in State care or known to State services have died, including ten murdered and 51 who died by suicide or drug overdose.

These figures, he argued, expose a deeply dysfunctional child protection system operating under the Government’s watch, despite promises to make Ireland the best place in Europe to be a child.

Deputy Tóibín also condemned the Government’s broader child welfare failures, pointing to children being harmed by inappropriate spinal surgeries, ongoing delays in scoliosis treatment, and a toxic culture within Children’s Health Ireland.

He criticised the lack of accountability and oversight at the heart of Tusla’s operations, raising serious questions about the agency’s ability to protect Ireland’s most vulnerable.

The Tánaiste, Simon Harris responded by defending the Government’s overall performance and pointing to national strategies and reforms, including in domestic and gender-based violence.

However, he did not directly address the alarming statistics or systemic issues raised in relation to Tusla.

Today’s exchange underscores growing political and public concern about Tusla’s capacity to carry out its mandate and the Government’s failure to reform Ireland’s child protection framework and hold Tusla to account over its failure to protect the nation’s most vulnerable children.