{"id":388048,"date":"2026-03-16T15:11:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/388048\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T15:11:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T15:11:10","slug":"highly-vulnerable-child-in-state-care-being-failed-in-unacceptable-way-judge-says-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/388048\/","title":{"rendered":"Highly vulnerable child in State care being failed in \u2018unacceptable\u2019 way, judge says \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The State\u2019s continued use of unregulated emergency placements for vulnerable children in care is a \u201cnational scandal\u201d that is failing them in ways that \u201cshould never be acceptable or allowed to happen\u201d, a Dublin<\/a> district judge has said.<\/p>\n

Judge Conor Fottrell took the unusual step of publishing written decisions in two separate cases of children in such placements known as special emergency arrangements (SEAs) on Friday. <\/p>\n

SEAs are privately-provided placements in rented apartments, holiday lets or hotel rooms. They are neither compliant with legislation nor inspected by health watchdog Hiqa<\/a>. More than 1,000 children were accommodated in them last year amid an ongoing crisis in placement availability across the child protection system.<\/p>\n

Fottrell is one of a growing chorus of voices calling for an end to Tusla\u2019s use of SEAs.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Irish Association of Social Workers<\/a> will call for immediate Hiqa inspections of all SEAs and \u201curgent measures … to safeguard children\u201d in them.<\/p>\n

In his first decision, Fottrell described as \u201cshocking\u201d that a child, in State care since birth and presenting with a high level of complex needs and in extreme distress, was now in their fifth SEA. <\/p>\n

The child has no family in their life, has experienced neglect and trauma, and presents with complex needs associated with foetal alcohol syndrome. They have had 11 placements since a \u201cloving\u201d foster placement broke down in 2022. <\/p>\n

In their current SEA since February, the young person is \u201ccompletely lost, alone and frightened,\u201d their court appointed advocate said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese fears are being demonstrated in … regular episodes of self-harming, blanking out, presenting as terrified and fearful and consistently asking for help,\u201d says the judge in the case which has been before his court about 50 times since 2022.<\/p>\n

A direction that Tusla provide a registered placement for the child four weeks ago has not been complied with. It was \u201cshocking\u201d that \u201c[Tusla] can stand over this appalling situation,\u201d said the judge. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is important and in the interests of children in care, that there is a written record of the court\u2019s serious reservations and concerns regarding children being placed in unsuitable and unsafe SEA placements,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe continuing use of SEAs is a national scandal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis highly vulnerable child in care is being failed, and this should never be acceptable or allowed to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the second case, a young teenager whom the judge also directed be brought to a registered placement remains missing from their SEA since February. <\/p>\n

The child has been seen by neither a social worker nor their advocate for four weeks and has \u201cstated clearly\u201d they do not want to return to their SEA. <\/p>\n

The child is thought to be moving between several locations. A social worker in a recent sitting said this was the child she was \u201cmost\u201d worried about. <\/p>\n

The child is \u201can extremely vulnerable young person with a history of risk-taking behaviour, criminal association and substance misuse\u201d. Their situation is \u201cextremely concerning\u201d said the judge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt simply beggars belief that a … child in care can go missing for nearly a month and there has been absolutely no progress in finding [them] or providing [them] with a suitable registered residential placement. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe position of [Tusla] is completely unsatisfactory and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The State\u2019s continued use of unregulated emergency placements for vulnerable children in care is a \u201cnational scandal\u201d that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[9,10,177357,19715,52,18,13,14,6,13842,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,7,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-388048","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-child-and-family-agency-tusla","11":"tag-district-court","12":"tag-dublin","13":"tag-eire","14":"tag-featured-news","15":"tag-featurednews","16":"tag-headlines","17":"tag-hiqa","18":"tag-ie","19":"tag-ireland","20":"tag-latest-news","21":"tag-latestnews","22":"tag-main-news","23":"tag-mainnews","24":"tag-news","25":"tag-top-stories","26":"tag-topstories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116239498260969347","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}