Concerns have been raised about Tusla's use of unregulated accommodation for children at high risk of harmTusla paid more than €36 million to private operators to accommodate vulnerable children in unregulated placements in the first seven months of last year. In October Dublin District Court judge Conor Fottrell said the use of “unregulated, unregistered placements” for children in care “should come to an end”. At the end of that month, there were 185 children in SEAs, of whom 68 per cent were separated children seeking asylum. The data released to The Irish Times shows in total, up to August last year, Tusla spent €36,058,553 on SEAs. A Tusla spokesman indicated children coming into mainstream SEAs typically arrive in emergency circumstances, often via the out-of-hours services.

Source: The Irish Times January 05, 2026 12:42 UTC