Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

The Child and Family Agency's financial statements for 2024 record total income of €1.2 billion. Vote 40 – Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth provided recurrent funding of €1.14 billion and €17.5 million for capital investment. Vote 26 – Education supplied a further €57 million, mainly in respect of the school completion programme. The agency's expenditure in 2024 amounted to €1.2 billion. Some €417 million was incurred in payroll and pension costs. This included €60 million spent on hiring agency staff. At the end of 2024, Tusla employed 5,320 whole-time equivalent staff. This was up 6% from end 2023.

Non-pay expenditure of €777 million was incurred in 2024. This included €299 million spent on the provision of independent placements for children or young people in need of a place of safety, including the use of special emergency arrangements due to a shortfall in existing residential capacity. Some €217 million was spent on direct grants to community, voluntary and charitable organisations delivering a range of child and family services. A total of €131 million was spent on statutory foster care and related allowances.

Expenditure on legal services and guardian ad litem costs was €38 million and €70 million was spent on non-pay administration expenses. The expenditure on independent placement provision included €61.3 million related to the placement of separated children seeking international protection. This was up from €33.1 million in 2023, representing an increase of 85% year on year.

I issued a clear audit opinion in respect of the agency's financial statements for 2024. However, I drew attention to the disclosure by the agency in its statement on internal financial control of non-compliant procurement of goods and services in 2024, amounting to €5.4 million. The statement also outlined the steps being taken by the agency to reduce its reliance on non-competitive and non-compliant procurement.

I also drew attention to expenditure on substantial legal costs and settlements arising from events that commenced in 2015 and about which there was a subsequent protected disclosure in 2017. Settlements on these matters have been reached with four individuals by Tusla or the State Claims Agency. Compensation payments to the individuals taking the cases have ranged from €49,999 to €309,000. Plaintiff costs paid in two cases amounted to €949,000. Plaintiff costs in the other two cases have not yet been determined.

In the case where the individual was paid €49,999 in compensation, the plaintiff costs were €870,000. In my view, the agency was obliged to seek the specific sanction of the Department of public expenditure for this settlement. That Department issued a delegated sanction to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality allowing it and its aegis bodies to make settlements up to an overall value of €50,000 in individual cases without the specific approval of the Department of public expenditure. This threshold value relates to all of the payments to the plaintiff, not just the compensation element.

The State Claims Agency's own costs in regard to these cases have not yet been finalised. Tusla's costs in relation to these cases amounted to €1.6 million. This includes €416,000 for an independent investigation of the protected disclosure matters, the report of which was subsequently quashed by order of the High Court.