Sir, – Justine McCarthy (Opinion & Analysis, October 25th) outlines a range of evidence regarding the current Government’s legacy in relation to children in Ireland.
Much of this is compelling and distressing, including the reference to the deaths of 29 children and young people in 2023 who were in the care of Tusla or known to them.
The death of any child, at any time, is a tragedy. However, it is important to understand the causes of death in order to make informed judgments on potential improvements in policy and practice in the safeguarding of children and young people. The figure of 29 children and young people is taken from the 2023 annual report of the National Review Panel authored by Dr Helen Buckley.
The report details that two children were in the care of Tusla, one was in aftercare and the remaining children and young people who were living with family or in the community were known to Tusla.
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Thirteen of the children who died were under one year old and five young people were aged between 17 and 20 years.
The annual report states that “18 of the 29 children/young people whose deaths were notified died as a result of natural causes, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Four young people died from suicide and five died in accidents. Where a coroner or postmortem has not reached a conclusion as to the cause of death, it is listed here as unknown.”
The report notes the inadequacy of services for children who later died from suicide.
The deaths of these children has brought great sadness and grief to their families, and to the foster carers and professional staff to whom they were known. Each child’s life and the circumstances of their death was unique to them.
The National Review Panel’s report assists us all in understanding the complex range of situations leading to these children’s untimely deaths.
It provides information that distinguishes between those children whose deaths are not preventable and those which merit a review to establish if deficiencies across State services contribute to their death. – Yours, etc,
MICHELE CLARKE,
Adjunct Professor in Social Work and Social Policy,
Trinity College Dublin,
Dublin 2.