What are the impacts of Tusla’s capacity issues?

Ciara Kelly (0:00)

The Hard Shoulder, with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman. On Newstalk, with Kiya.

Ireland's child protection system is a high stakes game of Jenga. Those were the words of Sinéad O'Sullivan in today's Irish Times. But what are we actually seeing on the ground in our courts as a direct result of our system's failures in child protection? Joining us now to discuss this is Kitty Holland, social affairs correspondent with the Irish Times. Good evening to you, Kitty. I've often read your pieces of late around what is happening in terms of these children, vulnerable children in often state care and what is happening to them. But it makes grim reading. Tell our listeners some of what you have seen come through the courts.

Kitty Holland (0:47)

Yeah, well, I mean, it's grim all the time. But in the last few weeks, there have been some really particularly grim cases and where the judges are saying in the courts that Tusla is really failing these children. And I suppose we must remember Tusla is the last safety nest for children who have probably been failed many times by other state agencies before they end up on Tusla's door. But just this week, on Monday, I was in the High Court for the special care list, which is special care is the most secure form of care. And Tusla needs a court order to detain children in special care for their own safety. But it had three children before their cases were before the High Court. And there were no beds available for them. One concerned a boy, a teenage boy who is in care and who is really been groomed in a really horrifying way into criminology and drug use and drug dealing. And he recently vomited up almost 40 bags of crack cocaine that he had swallowed to conceal them from Gardi. He's also using fentanyl.

And the court heard that he's had serious risk of death due to drug use or drug deaths.

When he was told by his carers that the bags of crack cocaine that he had swallowed would have to be given to Gardi, he became extremely distressed and was crying and ran away from his care unit, saying that he would have to repay the drug dealers for that if they were handed over to Gardi. There were also two girls who there's no beds for. One is a 14-year-old who is being sexually exploited by multiple adult men. She's in care, but she's frequenting pubs and looking for substances from men when she goes into the pubs and in exchange for sex. She has a mild intellectual disability and she appears to feel that these men love her and will look after her. There was another girl who also, there's an order that she be detained in special care for her own safety. She's older, she's 17, she is being sexually exploited by men as well. She was recently found unresponsive on a roadside and a little memory of events when brought to hospital and she was complaining of pain in her pelvic area. But then just yesterday, I was in the district court where a different, another judge, Connor Fottrell, was saying that the case before him was a 17-year-old girl. It was a case of child sexual exploitation on a scale he had never heard in his court. She is being picked up by prepaid taxis at her care facility, and she's being brought to hotels and residences across Dublin for group sex. When there's up to 30 adult males involved in that and there's an older woman is organizing that and both the older woman and she are getting drugs in exchange for this. So I mean, these are horrific, horrific cases and yeah, I mean, these are just in the last few days.

Ciara Kelly (3:50)

Kitty, they are horrific.

Like, you know, we hear awful things in the news all the time, but that still remains shocking what you've just recounted there. Obviously, there are 26 special care beds in the state, only 13 open due to staff shortages. I presume what Tusla is saying is, is if they can't staff the beds, they have nowhere to put these kids. And what are the courts saying about that?

Kitty Holland (4:19)

Well, the courts, I mean, the courts, you know, Judge John Jordan is in the high court and he hears the weekly special care list and he every week, he just kind of looses the rag with the barristers in there for Tusla. And he does make the point, it's not your fault, but I have to say this. You know, I'm sick of saying it, but, you know, I have to give these children a voice, that, you know, Tusla comes into my court spending big money looking for the care orders, the detention orders to put the children in. And then they come in the next week and say, we've no bed for them. And, you know, this is absolutely absurd.