The case of missing schoolboy Kyran Durnin is “absolutely horrific” and has “shocked all of us to our core”, Tusla’s chief executive has told an Oireachtas committee.
Kate Duggan said the child and family agency has completed two reports reviewing any involvement it had with the case.
She said these have been passed on to the Minister for Children and will be published “once the live investigation is over”.
In late August, Tusla flagged its concern for Kyran’s welfare with the Garda after it was unable to locate him, though he was not in the agency’s care. A family member reported Kyran and his mother missing the following day.
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Gardaí have found no evidence to suggest Kyran was alive in the period since the last confirmed sighting of him in May-June 2022 at a national school in Dundalk, Co Louth. He was six years old at the time.
While gardaí initially began a missing persons inquiry, the investigation was later upgraded to a murder case. Two suspects were arrested last December and several searches were carried out at properties in Co Louth, but Kyran’s remains have not been found.
Speaking before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children and Equality on Thursday, Ms Duggan said it was important to highlight that “everybody needs to be mindful of child protection or risks ... whether that’s family members, extended family members, communities, neighbours”.
“If concerns are there they should be raised at all times with Tusla in relation to responding,” she said.
[ Kyran Durnin murder inquiry: Gardaí conclude search of Drogheda houseOpens in new window ]
Ms Duggan said Tusla could not talk about the case as it was a “live investigation” but that up to June 2022 “Kyran was in school and was being seen by teachers and parents at the gate and lots of other services”.
Separately, Ms Duggan said Tusla is running a deficit of about €60 million this year which relates to “current expenditure costs”. She said the organisation was in “significant negotiations” with the Government to secure funding that would allow it “just to stand still”.
Ms Duggan also said Tusla was seeing an increase in the number of separated children seeking international protection compared to this time last year. She said increased investment was needed to cover the costs of this also.
