Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

This week, Fianna Fáil launched its campaign for a “Yes” vote in the so-called care referendum. It is important that we look behind the glossy marketing leaflets and actually analyse where the Government stands on care. Aontú has been carrying out significant research on the issue of children in State care by way of parliamentary questions, mostly to the Department of the Minister, Deputy Roderick O’Gorman. The information is absolutely shocking. First, a record number of children are being referred to Tusla annually. A reply to a parliamentary question that Aontú received shows that, in the first ten months of last year, 72,000 children were referred to Tusla, meaning 90,000 were referred to it in the full year. This is absolutely staggering. It represents an increase of 28% in two years. To put the number in perspective, it is 30,000 more children than sat the leaving certificate examinations last year. Two hundred and fifty-six children per day, or ten per hour, are being referred to Tusla at the moment. Tusla has admitted to me by way of responses to parliamentary questions that it is putting many of the vulnerable children into unregulated residential units called special emergency arrangements. These are typically just rented apartments and they are often staffed by unvetted staff. It is astounding that any government would put children who are so vulnerable into this situation.

We also know that hundreds of children go missing from State care annually. The Irish Examinerreports today that, in January, 22 children went missing from State care. This is incredible. The State is in loco parentisbut is now losing hundreds of the children annually. Children taken into Tusla, potentially because of sexual abuse, are being lost to the State, potentially making them targets for traffickers for sexual abuse. The State is meant to be a sanctuary for these children with difficulties; however, either through ineptitude or resource disinterest, it is leaving these same children to be lost to abuse again.

I have asked Tusla to state how many children have reported sexual abuse while in State care. It has told me it simply does not record that information centrally. Other data shown to Aontú indicate that over 200 children have died either in State care or known to State care in the past ten years. Thirty-eight of these have taken their own lives, many more have died from overdoses, and others were murdered.

The rank-and-file staff involved in the protection of children are doing their best. They are under enormous pressure and many are suffering from burnout, but if what is happening had happened to children in the past, there would have been a State apology and a full investigation. Why is the Government not taking the horrendous neglect of children in State care seriously?

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