Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is seeking information about companies that have been contracted by Tusla to provide emergency accommodation to children in care in each of the past ten years and to date in 2024. I understand that the information up to the first half of 2023 was released to the Deputy in response to Question No. 1362 of 11 September. The Deputy will be aware from that response that a total of 27 companies were contracted by Tusla between 2013 and the end of June 2023 in order to provide care for children in special emergency arrangements. Unfortunately, due to industrial action, Tusla has not been able to provide the full details requested by the Deputy about the period from July 2023 to date. However, Tusla has confirmed that this information is being compiled and will get it to the Deputy as soon as it is available.

In the interim, Tusla has completed an exercise to establish payments made over 2023 to the ten largest providers of special emergency arrangements. I note that these payments ranged from €3.5 million to more than €13 million over the year. I am informed that these figures may include payments for a range of other services to Tusla outside of SEAs, including agency staff for residential care centres or staff for other wraparound services.

Tusla is facing ongoing challenges in sourcing appropriate placements for children in the care of the State. This is due to a number of factors: difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff; the complexity of the presentations; and the number of children seeking international protection. I share the Deputy's concerns about the overreliance on SEAs. With the support of my Department, Tusla is working to reduce that overreliance. It has its residential care plan in place, which seeks to put 110 new beds into Tusla's system - so, not private beds, but Tusla beds - by the end of 2025. We are supporting that. In 2024, Tusla received its largest budget increase ever, given that I know how important it is to support the agency in caring for these vulnerable children.

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