Tusla, the child and family agency, inadvertently placed two siblings into the care of a company it had previously blacklisted over shortcomings in the Garda vetting of its staff, internal documents show.
Supervised Access Ireland, a private company used to oversee access visits between parents and their children where they do not have custody, was found to have “insufficient” measures in place to keep children safe from harm.
Tusla became alarmed about Garda vetting standards and the qualifications of staff working for the company after it emerged one employee was “non-compliant” with vetting procedures, according to an internal Department of Children briefing. The briefing said Tusla had provided assurances that Supervised Access Ireland “are not being used by Tusla currently and will not be used again in the future”.
On foot of the concerns, a senior Tusla official last February ordered the agency to stop using Supervised Access Ireland to oversee visits “with immediate effect”, the briefing stated. A further examination of the company by Tusla found its child protection policies were “insufficient”, officials wrote.
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Despite the decision to cut ties, Tusla staff in the Louth-Meath area “inadvertently” placed two siblings in State care with the company in September. The company was “wrongly engaged” to supervise access visits on four occasions over several weeks before the mistake was flagged, the department briefing states.
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The company is owned and run by Robert McCormack (61) and registered to an address in Navan, Co Meath.
Emails seen by The Irish Times show allegations that staff had worked with children without being properly Garda vetted were reported internally in November 2023. One employee said a colleague who had been supervising visits disclosed they had not completed Garda vetting or child protection training.
In an email to Mr McCormack, the employee said they were “struggling to understand” how the company could place vulnerable children into the care of the individual without proper checks being carried out. In response, the chief executive said he would thoroughly investigate the matter.
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The now former employee also reported the concerns to Tusla, who shortly afterwards stopped using Supervised Access Ireland’s services. Tusla paid the company more than €560,000 over the last two years, according to figures previously released to People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy.
A Tusla spokesman said the agency could not comment on issues around vetting in Supervised Access Ireland, other than to confirm it had stopped using the service. “In a small number of cases, Tusla uses external private providers, such as supervision/access centres, often on direction of the court. Where Tusla engages such services, the conditions to be met are outlined to ensure they are compliant with Tusla standards,” he said.
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