Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has called for urgent action following a judgment delivery on how Tusla handled the cases in which children under their care have been left without a designated social worker.
Deputy Tóibín said that “there are some very concerning revelations in this judgement. Tusla are supposed to ‘re-enter’ a case in the courts every time a child in its care has no social worker. But the judgement notes that this wasn’t happening, that Tusla was not complying with these orders or informing the courts that children were without social workers. We’re talking here about a cohort of 250 or so children”.
The Deputy continued: “The government is not listening to foster carers, social workers or the voluntary care sector when they raise concerns, but to continue to ignore the situation even in the face of multiple judges expressing their feelings is embarrassing for the government”.
He also said that “children in State care are being trafficked, murdered and abused at a colossal scale in this country, with high numbers also dying from drug overdoses and suicide… The State is the parent of these children, and it is utterly failing them.
“Aontú is calling on the government to outline what steps they are taking to ensure staff retention in social work, better recruitment of foster carers and how they aim to reduce the rate of trafficking, death and missing persons among children in care. This scandal needs to be taken seriously, and there needs to be an investigation into the reasons why Tusla failed to inform the court that 250 children in their care are currently without a social worker. It’s a very serious situation,” he concluded.
