An inspection by the Health Information and Quality Authority has revealed widespread failings in Tusla's child protection and welfare service in Dublin's north city.
It found that by June of this year, significant risks identified in 2024 had not been addressed, resulting in some of the area's most vulnerable children without adequate support.
The report notes that two children were left waiting weeks by the service despite allegations of physical abuse.
The service was found to be non-compliant in all five child protection and welfare standards that was assessed.
As a result, the regulator escalated concerns from the local area to Tusla's National Office.
HIQA uncovered major risks at the initial point of contact to the service known as the "front door".
Tusla requires referrals to be screened within 24 hours, however, HIQA found that some children had been waiting more than six months for a determination about whether they were at immediate risk.
Of the 1,543 open cases at the end of last May, 373 referrals (24%) had not been screened. These included concerns about children in care.
In June, when HIQA carried out its inspection, 368 referrals remained unscreened, prompting the regulator to escalate the matter.
The report raises issues around data integrity.
The service had reported that 15% of open cases were not allocated to a social worker.
However, HIQA's analysis found that 1,019 cases were unallocated - accounting for 66% of all open Child Protection Welfare cases.
Inspectors also discovered outdated, incomplete and neglected case records.
In five cases, entries were backdated on the case management system, which HIQA said was of "particular concern" regarding record accuracy and children's safety.
Because of staff shortages and issues around governance, many children faced long delays before any action was taken.
Some waited more than six months for their referral to be reviewed by a social worker.
One child with an allegation of physical abuse by a parent was waiting over four weeks for screening; another who was in care was waiting over seven weeks for safety planning after an allegation of physical abuse; a non-verbal child with a disability waited over two months for a preliminary inquiry and safety plan.
Many of the children on waiting lists had no safety plan, which is a written collaborative agreement between a family and Tusla to manage risks to a child's safety.
Others were allocated to managers who were not actively working their cases and some were assigned to workers without child protection training.
Staff told inspectors they were committed to the safety of the children but that they were under immense pressure and they highlighted the shortage of placements.
Some children had to stay with staff in the Tusla offices late into the night while the service tried secure places.
Placements available to children were short-term, often for one night and located in other counties, a significant distance from their communities in the north inner city of Dublin.
Children were often required to travel considerable distances from other counties to school on a daily basis.
Although 52 qualified social workers are required for the service to function safely, only 19 were in post at the time of the inspection.
Efforts to stabilise staffing - which included converting social work posts to social care roles, deployments to the front door, apprenticeships and overseas recruitment - fell short of what was required.
Managers described a "firefighting" operation focused only on the most immediate risks each day and staff reported routinely working long hours to manage crises.
Due to the scale of non-compliance, HIQA held a provider warning meeting with senior staff in Tusla.
A formal warning letter was issued the same day, giving the service until 5 December to achieve compliance.
Tusla has since submitted a plan.
It said that the plan which was accepted by HIQA was "well under way", with significant progress made in each of the standards assessed.
In a statement, it said that it established a Child Protection and Welfare Governance Implementation Group to oversee the implementation of the compliance plan and that it meets weekly.
Since the time of inspection, it says significant improvements have been made and almost all areas highlighted by HIQA have been rectified with any remaining actions being addressed as a matter of priority.
Regional Chief Officer at Tusla Dublin North City, Eilidh MacNab, said the report acknowledged "the particularly difficult and complex environment" in which child protection and welfare services are delivered, including staffing shortages in social work that challenge agencies like ours nationally.
"The Dublin North City service area has had one of the steepest increases in referral rates over the past 24 months and is beset by a combination of demographic, geographic and socioeconomic challenges that place additional pressure on local teams," she said.
She added her appreciation for the ongoing hard work, commitment and dedication by teams in the area to deliver critical child protection and welfare services.
