Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The Kyran Durnin case has shocked the country to the core. This is a tragic and dark case that asks serious questions of the State. How can a vulnerable child go missing for two years? How can a vulnerable child just disappear for two years? How broken is the State care system that we are not talking about an intervention here but we are talking about the potential murder of a child. The political establishment has expressed shock and disbelief over what has happened to Kyran but the truth is he is only one of 227 children who have died in State care, or known to State care, just in the last ten years. Of that 227, we know 11 were murdered. Another child died as a result of a suspected non-accidental injury and a further child lost his life due to a suspected homicide. Forty children died because of suicide, eight because of drug overdose, 16 because of road traffic accidents and 18 by other accidents. I wish to reference some of the National Review Panel reports because I feel these speak for themselves. I have ascribed pseudonyms to the children who have died.

The report on the death of Hugh, published in 2018, highlights how he was referred to CAMHS but was left without treatment due to CAMHS policy where young people who are using drugs or alcohol are not eligible for service. Hugh died at the age of 16 from a drug overdose. Niamh, whose report was published in 2019, died at the age of 15 by suicide. She too was deemed ineligible by CAMHS. I wish to mention Ava also. She was a victim of child sexual abuse. The abuse occurred in one Tusla area and she lived in a different area. Area 1 believed that area 2 was speaking to Ava about the allegation and area 2 believed that area 1 was doing it. I quote from the report: "This ultimately meant that nobody in Tusla spoke to Ava about her alleged experience of sexual abuse". CAMHS discharged her after the second appointment as it had no evidence of mental illness. She went missing at the age of 14 and her body was found a few days later. The report on the death of Luke is heartbreaking. He experienced sexual abuse as a child. His father died when Luke was nine and he found his father's body. His mother died shortly after that and Luke was put into foster care. In foster care, he was robbed and assaulted. He then went to a homeless hostel. He faced threats in the hostel and he moved onto the streets. He then went to prison. There are no details of the circumstances of his death, only that his body was found two weeks after he was released from prison. He was a child.

The 1916 Proclamation states that we will cherish all the children of the nation equally. The report on the death of Luke notes he never received a birthday present and that Santa Claus never came to him. Will the Taoiseach demand that the Minister for children, Tusla and CAMHS are brought to the children's committee in light of the shocking case of Kyran Durnin and the hundreds of other children who have lost their lives in this State in the last ten years?

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