Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)

Placing an adult in a Tusla residential unit is a very serious breach of child protection. Aontú has raised this issue a number of times with the Government and we have been told that the Government is doing everything it can to make sure that it does not happen. We are being told that the immigration services know exactly who is coming into the country and that checks are being done. Vadym Davydenko was a Ukrainian boy who was placed in a residential care unit very recently. The suspect in that alleged murder was also placed in that residential home. We now come to understand that the suspect was an adult. Today it has emerged in a report that 192 adults have been placed in children's residential homes in the past three years. This is an incredible figure.

It has been reported to me by people who are working within the sector that not enough work has been done on the documentary research to find out the age of an individual and not enough work has been done on the scientific research to be able to pinpoint an individual's age. Is it not the case that in many instances the State does not know the age of the individual or, indeed, the identity of the individuals who are coming into the country?

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