Serious concerns have been raised about Ireland's childcare system, with severe shortages of social workers and children being left in unsuitable accommodation among the issues cited by the Child Law Project.
The Child Law Project was established in 2012 to provide information to the public on childcare proceedings in the courts and make recommendations to address any shortcomings identified by its research.
Among 70 cases dealt with in its latest report is that of a teenage girl who had been placed in a special emergency arrangement by Tusla and was allegedly sexually assaulted by a number of men.
The case was described as alarming by a judge.
The report by the Child Law Project is entitled Falling through the cracks - An analysis of child care proceedings from 2021 to 2024.
In the report, it says that the teenage girl, who was subject of an interim care order and housed by Tusla in a special emergency arrangement, had repeatedly gone missing from care and had recently been allegedly raped by several middle-aged men.
Her mother's solicitor said the teenager had gone missing in care approximately ten times since the previous court date and that her mother was left to walk the streets looking for her.
It was believed that the teenager consorted with another girl she knew, and both were subjected to performing sexual favours for middle-aged men in various locations around the city.
The girl would be collected, brought to a park, sexually assaulted and then returned to her placement.
Days before the court hearing the teenager had been subjected to an invasive sexual assault investigation and was scheduled for a specialist garda interview the day after court.
The judge said the matter had spiralled out of control and that the Child and Family Agency had to account for the girl's safety, explain why the girl was able to escape and what standard of care was being provided to her as a vulnerable citizen.
The Social Worker said that a special emergency arrangement was an open-door facility prohibited from using any restrictive practices, such as locking doors or physical restraints, to prevent a child from leaving.
Staff did not have the required training, social worker says
The only secure placements provided by Tusla are special care placements, which were only considered when a child was at risk to themselves or at risk of harming others.
Special care could prevent a child from leaving the placement and provide therapeutic supports.
The judge described the evidence given as alarming; adding that allowing the child to return home would not be the correct thing to do, therefore a supervision order would not be appropriate.
The Child Law Project said that the cases it reported on showed "severe pressure" being experienced by Tusla in providing appropriate placements for vulnerable children, especially those with complex needs.
Parental drug addiction, mental health issues and domestic violence continued to feature as reasons for Tusla/the Child and Family Agency seeking care orders.
A number of cases concerned teenage children whose behaviour put them and members of the public at risk, opening them to the danger of involvement in criminality.
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Significant number taken into care had additional needs
The Child Law Project noted in its reporting that a significant number of the children taken into care had additional needs.
The challenges posed for parents were illustrated in one case where children of separated parents were on the autism spectrum.
Three of them were taken into care under interim care orders.
This was one of several cases where the children had additional needs and the parents, often parenting alone, could not cope.
Child Law Project Director Dr Carol Coulter said the fact that some children with a high level of additional needs were taken into care when parents cannot cope "underlines the need for a whole-of-government approach to dealing with disability, especially among children".
Several cases resulted in newborn babies being taken into care.
Frequently this was as a result of drug abuse by the mother, with the baby suffering from drug withdrawal at birth.
In one highly contested case, however, there was no parental drug abuse, but Tusla considered that the mother, who had come to Ireland from the UK and was autistic, suffered from mental health issues that put her baby at risk.
This case is continuing.
Several cases see positive outcomes, children thriving in foster care
A number of cases related to children who had suffered neglect or injury in their parents' care, but who were thriving in foster care and overcoming early development delays.
In one case, a full care order until the age of 18 was granted by a District Court in a regional town where the child had suffered severe and traumatic injuries at three months old, while in the care of his parents a few years earlier.
The paediatrician on call in the hospital emergency department when the baby was brought in by his parents said that he was clearly very unwell and presented as pale, lethargic and very floppy, with bruises on the left side of his head, ear and neck.
He said the baby was given an urgent blood transfusion and then underwent a full body skeletal X-ray from head to toe. He underwent special brain tests which showed a bleed on his brain.
The paediatrician said that he and the ED team were immediately concerned about non-accidental injury.
He said that Tusla, gardaí and the medical social worker were all contacted immediately under the protocol in place for such occasions.
A skeletal survey revealed several fractures, including a fractured skull bone on the left side, fractures on both arms at the wrist, fractured bones of the left and right legs, swelling on the knees and broken left and right ribs.
The paediatrician said it was clear that the injury to the child's skull was from a trauma to the head which would have been a forceful impact.
He confirmed that the baby was underweight and malnourished and that some of the fractures were fresh, but others were old fractures which were healing.
The parents offered no further explanation as to how the child's injuries had occurred and they repeatedly told the medical staff that they did not know what happened.
An interim care order had been obtained almost immediately once information had been gathered from the gardaí and the medical team.
The social worker confirmed that the child had been in the same foster care placement since he was three months old.
She said that he was getting on very well, he was a happy playful child, and the foster carers were happy to have the child in a long-term placement. The social worker said that the child was meeting all his developmental milestones and no longer required physiotherapy.
The judge said this was a case that had very frightening circumstances, and where such terrible physical injuries had happened to a child there was the potential for very serious psychological issues for him into the future. He granted the full care order.
The 77-report volume is the first publication in 13-months when the Child Law Project ceased reporting after its contract with the Department of Children expired in October 2024.
The department issued a new tender for reporting in March 2025, which was again won by the Child Law Project.
It resumed reporting in May last year and runs a dedicated website that publishes reports from courts around Ireland making child protection orders.
The anonymity of the children and their families is preserved throughout.
'Haunting gaps' in State's response to children in need - Children's Rights Alliance
Significant and serious systemic issues continue to blight the lives of children and young people in the care system according to the Children's Rights Alliance.
Its comments come following the publication of the latest volume of reports from the Child Law Project.
In a statement, the Children's Rights Alliance said there were "haunting gaps" within the State's response to children in need of care.
CEO Tanya Ward said the reports revealed a system under "severe pressure" to provide an appropriate response for children and young people who she said were in desperate need.
"The scramble to find placements alongside the ongoing challenge to recruit social workers, social care workers and foster carers means the system is constantly fire-fighting and chasing to close gaps," she said.
Ms Ward said Government couldn't shy away from the fact that the current response to children in need "is not meeting the mark".
"Even in cases where the State is being made aware of the risks to a child, Tusla does not have sufficient specialist placements with experienced staff so the situation deteriorates," she said.
Report highlights complex circumstances around care orders - Tusla
The publication has highlighted the complex and often difficult circumstances under which care orders are required for children and young people according to Tusla.
Regarding the difficulties experienced in providing Special Care placements it said an interagency response and timely access to services in partnership with the HSE, An Garda Síochána, and juvenile justice was required.
In a statement, Tusla acknowledged the challenges in fulfilling statutory obligations with regard to Special Care Orders, and said the organisation understood the frustration this caused for both the court and the parents of the young people awaiting placement.
"Despite intensive recruitment and retention efforts over the past several years, the Agency continues to face significant challenges in recruiting sufficient numbers of staff to reach Special Care's maximum capacity," it said.
