Social Affairs

Thirty-seven children reported as missing from Tusla care so far this year

Thirty-one of those missing are separated children seeking asylum, while six went missing from residential settings, figures show

Tusla: 'As of October 10th [last] 37 young people have been reported as missing from care.' Photograph: Bryan O'Brien/The Irish Times
Tusla: 'As of October 10th [last] 37 young people have been reported as missing from care.' Photograph: Bryan O'Brien/The Irish Times
Kitty Holland
Mon Oct 28 2024 - 06:00

A total of 37 children and young people have gone missing from Tusla’s care so far this year, latest figures show.

Data provided to The Irish Times shows 31 of them are separated children seeking asylum, while six went missing from residential settings – three of whom are still missing.

Asked about the issue of young people going missing from its care, Tusla said: “As of October 10th [last] 37 young people have been reported as missing from care.

[ Kyran Durnin case: How can a child go missing for two years? ]

“Of the 37, 31 are separated children seeking international protection (SCSIP). The vast majority of young people in the SCSIP service reported as missing are aged over 16 years.

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“Some of these young people communicated their intention to travel on to other countries to join family members, and some indicated that it was never their intention to remain in Ireland and left soon after they arrived in the country.

“Nonetheless, for those who did not subsequently make us aware of their whereabouts, these young people are counted as missing and An Garda Síochána are notified accordingly.”

Tusla did not specify whether it believed the 31 missing young asylum seekers were still in the country or whether it was making efforts to ascertain their whereabouts.

The agency continued: “Of the 37, six are living in Tusla’s residential settings. Most of these young people reported as ‘missing’ return to their placement after a brief period of time and remain in a safe and caring environment.”

It said it was “important to note” that where a child is absent from their residential care placement for more than 15 minutes, they can be reported as “missing” from care.

“This could be for a range of reasons, such as missing their curfew or not returning to their placement at an agreed time.

“Three of these six young people remained in contact with the services whilst absent, and three of these young people were not in contact as of 10th October.”

Setting out what happens when a young person goes missing from its care, a Tusla spokeswoman said a joint protocol with gardaí required that the force be notified immediately “due to vulnerable nature of young people in care”.

“Once a young person has been reported missing, gardaí have primary responsibility for investigating the young person’s whereabouts. Throughout the Garda investigation, however, the child’s social worker and carers continue to make inquiries with people who may be able to assist with the investigation.

“All information gathered through these inquiries is passed on to the gardaí,” she said.

Meanwhile, speaking on Sunday, Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman said there have “very clearly been failings” in the case of missing boy Kyran Durnin.

“We can’t be complacent when it comes to child protection ... It’s clear something went wrong in this particular situation, and we need to know what it was so we can ensure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

The Minister was speaking to RTÉ's This Week programme about the boy, last seen in 2022 when he was six.

Although Kyran Durnin was not in Tusla’s care, the agency was engaging with him and his family. It was Tusla that alerted gardaí to concerns for his welfare at the end of August.

Gardaí instigated a missing person investigation in September and that was upgraded to one of murder earlier this month.

As of Friday, gardaí have identified key suspects as part of the investigation into the disappearance, assumed killing, of Kyran Durnin but will not move to arrest them unless they can secure evidence on which to ground arrests.

Kitty Holland

Kitty Holland

Kitty Holland is Social Affairs Correspondent of The Irish Times