'O’Gorman is out of his depth' says Aontú leader on children in state care

The Aontú Leader, Peadar Tóibín TD has called for the resignation of the Minister for Children, following what he claimed was a “damning drip feed of information regarding the State’s failure to protect children in care”.

The Meath West TD said: “It isn’t new, but it is making headlines lately: Children in the care of the state are being trafficked and sexually exploited in Ireland right now, at a serious scale. In any other country this would be a national scandal," began Dep Peadar Tóibín.

"The resources of the state would be marshalled into investigating the crisis and ensuring that it is comprehensively brought to an end. There would also be accountability up to and including resignations, at the very top. Much of the problem is as a result of services being starved of resources while the number of children being referred to TUSLA is surging”

“Statistics released to Aontú, following parliamentary questions, show that nearly 200 children either under State care, or known to child protection services, have died in the past decade," Deputy Tóibín continued.

"Thirty-eight of the children who died took their own lives. More died from drug overdoses, and some were murdered. We’ve also learned today that last year 82,000 children were referred to Tusla – more than the number of students to sit the leaving cert. It represents a 50% increase in referrals since 2018.

"However, the number of children taken into care has remained fairly stagnant throughout the same period – the question must be posed – is the lack of capacity in the care system effecting the decision-making process on the referrals received?”

“The issue of child trafficking is not new – it has been happening for years, in nearly every town and city in this country. Children in State Care, particularly residential care, are being left hugely exposed. Child sexual exploitation is the biggest form of human trafficking in Ireland at the moment. Those of us who have been researching this topic for so long knew that due to the ‘in camera rule’ in the family courts, there was only one hope for exposing the State’s incompetence when it comes to children in care – that a retired judge would blow the whistle. This week that happened”.

“Aontú has exposed some shocking facts over the last few months, including that 69 unaccompanied minors have gone missing from Tusla’s care since 2017. We had a situation only a few weeks ago where a number of unaccompanied children, who had come to our country without their parents or guardians, were known to Tusla but were left homeless on the streets of Dublin for weeks”.

“Tusla have been unable to tell me how many children each year report being physically or sexually abused while in State care, saying the data requested is “not collated centrally by Tusla”. They’ve also written to me to tell me that they 'do not maintain a register of referrals to CORU against staff members'.

“Separately the Department of Justice has told me that records of emails received by the email address blueblindfold@garda.ie to which people can make reports of suspected human trafficking, are not retained for longer than 30 days. This is extremely alarming information.

"Tusla cannot tell me either the number of children who become pregnant while in State care, or the numbers referred for STI testing in any given year. The Taoiseach and government are trying to blame a lack of resources for the problems in Tusla, and implying that it has a lot to do with the refugee crisis. This is not true. The problems go deeper than that and stretch back years. Minister O’Gorman, following a Dáil question on the topic, was unable to give me clarity on the number of children who go missing from State care (not just unaccompanied minors, but as a whole) each year. A shocking display of incompetence," argued Dep Tóibín.

“The Minister overseeing this shambles needs to take a look in the mirror and consider his position. If a scandal of this proportion – the Child and Family Agency openly admitting a huge problem of sexual exploitation of children in care – were to occur in any other western country, the Minister in charge of the sector would be pressured to resign.

"Roderic O’Gorman is out of his depth and needs to go! We need complete change within the Department and agency, from the top down. The social workers and foster families are doing very difficult work at the cold face, but serious questions remain over what is happening at HQ and in the Department” concluded Tóibín.