The head of the National Review Panel (NRP) has said the "overarching conclusion" from its review into the case of missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin is that what happened to him "could not have been anticipated from knowledge that was available" to Tusla at the time.
Kyran Durnin was reported missing from his home in Drogheda, Co Louth in August 2024, but the last confirmed sighting of him was in June 2022, when he was six years old.
The NRP conducts reviews of instances where children in care, in aftercare or known to child protection services, die or experience serious incidents.
The review into the case of Kyran Durnin, who is missing and presumed dead, was finalised over a month ago, but cannot be published on the advice of the Attorney General.
Minister for Children, Disability and Equality Norma Foley said the legal advice was that it would not be possible to publish the report at this time, "given the potential to prejudice any potential prosecutions".
However, she was in a position to publish a series of recommendations from the review today.
Dr Helen Buckley, head of the NRP, said that "the overarching conclusion of this review is that the serious incident which elicited it could not have been anticipated from knowledge that was available to the Tusla Social Work Department at the time".
She also noted that while the review identifies "practice and policy weaknesses, it does not infer a direct or causal link between them and the outcome for Kyran".
The recommendations from the review include the tracking of pupil movement between primary schools, including on a cross-border basis, a review of GDPR and guidance to social workers.
It also includes a review of the Tusla/An Garda Síochána protocol.
The recommendations fall to a number of departments and agencies to implement and Minister Foley said she was committed to implementing all the necessary measures arising from the NRP recommendations in the Kyran Durnin report.
She said she was engaging with the relevant departments and agencies, including Tusla on this, and that Tusla has already commenced this process where the recommendations come under its remit.
Minister Foley said the "recent tragic cases are of the deepest concern to everybody both in Government and across society".
'Heartbreaking case'
Addressing the media at a briefing at Government Buildings this afternoon, Minister Foley said that she had been clear in her wish to publish the report into the Kyran Durnin case, but that it was not possible due to legal advice from the AG.
She said it was a "heartbreaking case".
In relation to the finding of the NRP, Minister Foley said she has met with Dr Buckley.
She said Dr Buckley was very clear that this should be in the public domain, that this was her view and the finding of the panel.
Minister Foley said she was satisfied with the findings of the report and accepted the findings of Dr Buckley and her team. She also said she has confidence in Tusla and the work that they do.
She said that more than 5,800 children are in the care of Tusla, most of whom are in foster care.
Tusla CEO Kate Duggan said that when something like this happens, it is distressing for everyone involved, adding that it is "critical that we as an agency review our interactions with the child, family, and other services, and that we seek an independent evaluation of that engagement from the National Review Panel".
In a statement, Ms Duggan said that her commitment as CEO is "full transparency and meaningful reform so that we can as an agency and in collaboration with other stakeholders ensure we are doing all we can to safeguard and protect children".
Child care bill approved
Minister Foley also received Cabinet approval this week to publish the Child Care (Ammendment) Bill 2025, which would place the NRP on a statutory footing.
Doing this will give the body extra powers, including powers to compel people or agencies to give evidence or provide information, and also the power to publish its own reports.
The minister said the panel is "respected for the independence of its work but putting it on a statutory basis will strengthen it in this regard".
Among the key elements of the Child Care (Ammendment) Bill 2025 is a "duty to cooperate" between relevant bodies, like Tusla, Government departments and others.
This will require organisations to cooperate proactively in performing their existing functions relevant to the development, welfare and protection of a child.
There will also be a clear basis for the sharing of information between agencies and organisations when they are working together on child protection and child welfare matters under this new "duty to cooperate".
The minister said there is now an office for children absent in education so that a principal with a concern about a child absent can report it. She said this would be immediately raised by this office, which was set up in the summer.
She said that to the best of her knowledge, there is one case that was raised that remains a concern and has been referred to An Garda Síochána. She said that she became aware of this case in the last day.
Although the Attorney General advised that the review into the case of Kyran Durnin should not be published, he said the recommendations of the report could be.
They include the need for a policy for tracking pupil movement between primary schools, including between both jurisdictions on the island of Ireland.
Formal clarification of the impact of GDPR on the ability of Tusla to conduct assessments of children is also recommended.
The report identified three additional areas - encompassing both best practice and procedural guidance - which require to be addressed by Tusla in guidance for social workers involved in child safeguarding practice.
It also said that Tusla must ensure that social work departments are pro-active at all times in managing wait-list cases screened for assessment which have not been assessed after a time-limited period, or which cannot be located.
It said Tusla needs to develop an agreed standard framework and policy for quality assurance, communication and review, and for evidencing positive outcomes with partner family support agencies.
It also recommended that An Garda Síochána's Working protocol (2021) be reviewed to include procedures for a dedicated high level serious case forum to be set up in exceptional cases where both criminal investigation responsibilities and child protection responsibilities are fully shared and managed.
