The ten per cent increase in the number of child safety and welfare referrals made to Tusla – the child and family agency – last year is an obvious cause for concern. Dealing with the 106,444 referrals put more pressure on the already stretched agency which provided 50,571 children and their families with support services and was responsible for 5,879 children in care at year end.
The increase is not a surprise. There are some obvious reasons and other less obvious ones. Population growth -–put at 1.5 per cent in the year to April 2025 – leads to increased demand for Tusla’s services. So does the disproportionate burden imposed on vulnerable families by ongoing cost of living and housing pressures. The increasing number of unaccompanied children seeking international protection further adds to demand.
The less obvious factors include the increasing willingness of those obliged by law to report suspected child welfare and safety concerns to Tusla. Over a third of referrals were made by Garda. Teachers and people in safeguarding roles accounted for another 12 per cent and 10 per cent of referrals respectively.
This change in official attitudes to reporting suspected child welfare and safety concerns that followed the 2017 Children First Act– which brought in mandatory reporting – led to a significant rise in referrals.
RM Block
This showed that the legislation is working , but the resulting increase in referrals underlines the need to adequately fund the agency. Tusla’s budget was increased by 14 per cent to €1.4 billion last year but it remains chronically underfunded, according to the Ombudsman for Children, Niall Muldoon. The Tusla chair, Madeleine Clarke, and its chief executive, Kate Duggan, are more diplomatic but their message is the same.
Norma Foley, the Minster for Children, will fight Tusla’s corner in the coming budget negotiations. She should point out to her colleagues that failing to properly resource the agency threatens the progress made in recent years in the area of child protection.
