Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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976. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs further to Parliamentary Question No. 254 of 27 March 2013, when she will supply the requested figures of missing unaccompanied asylum seekers' minors [46467/13]

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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The immediate and ongoing needs of separated children seeking asylum are the responsibility of the HSE in accordance with the Refugee Act 1996 (as amended) and the Child Care Act, 1991.

Where Children are identified as unaccompanied minors by An Garda Siochána their circumstances are investigated, and where there are concerns about their welfare they are received into the care of the HSE under the Child Care Act 1991. They are allocated a social worker, their needs are assessed and a Care Plan is developed. These children are generally placed in a foster care family placement, although some older children are placed in regulated residential facilities that cater for small numbers. The overall number of unaccompanied children seeking asylum has decreased significantly in recent years.

The following table sets out the number of separated children seeking asylum in Ireland that have gone missing on a yearly basis between 2005 and 2012; and the number of these children's whereabouts that remains unknown.