Some children in State care can “elude” staff, Children’s Minister Norma Foley has said, maintaining that those who go missing are “the exception and not the norm”.
Speaking at a Budget Week press conference last week, the Fianna Fáil Minister responded to Gript questions about dozens of children disappearing from Tusla care by stating that the vast majority in State care are “well supported”.
“There are in and around 5,000 children in the care of the state,” Foley said.
“The vast majority of those children in the care of Tusla and the care of the state, you never ever hear about. You never hear about them. They’re living their lives, they’re well supported, they’re happy and they’re contented.”
She acknowledged that other young people require specialised assistance due to challenging circumstances.
“But there are a cohort of children and young people who come from very, very difficult, very, very challenging backgrounds,” Foley continued.
“And because of that, they need additional supports. And Tusla is working in that sphere to provide those additional supports.”
Addressing the issue of children disappearing from State care, Foley stated that many young people who go missing are unaccompanied minors seeking international protection.
“You talk about children going missing,” Foley said.
“Many of those children – though not all – but many of those children are separated children seeking international protection. Many of them come and clearly say that it is their intention to leave and move on elsewhere.
“So the point I want to make is that Tusla have a very varied, very complex, very demanding job. The vast, vast majority of children are very well supported, lead very happy and very contented lives.”
When asked during the press conference how the State could lose track of a child as young as 10 years of age, such as in the high profile City West case last year, the Minister maintained that such instances do not represent the standard experience.
“Again I would have to say to you that is the exception and not the norm,” Foley said.
“And again I would explain to you that there are some children who have very, very complex need, extremely complex need.”
Foley explained that children with complex needs can manage to evade staff assigned to supervise them.
“It can arise that they would have care workers with them, but they, for whatever reason, however they manage it, they would elude them,” she said.
“That can be for a very short period of time.”
The Minister added that an absence lasting longer than a few minutes is officially recorded as a missing child.
“If that’s for more than 15 minutes, they are recorded as missing,” Foley said.
“They are recorded as absent. They can return, but for the 15-minute period that they were absent and not in the sight of the person or persons, oftentimes if it’s particularly complex there’s more than one person with them, they are recorded as missing.”
Foley emphasised that the State is allocating further resources to support vulnerable children facing difficulties.
“We don’t want one single child to be absent,” Foley said.
“We don’t want one single child to have a negative experience of life… We’re investing to ensure that every child gets the maximum support, but there will always be children who will have particular challenges. And when nobody else takes on the job, Tusla takes on the job.”
As part of the Budget, Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, will receive funding of over €1.4 billion in 2027.
Core funding for the agency is increasing by €100 million, or 8.4%, while funding for unaccompanied minors seeking international protection has been reduced by €37 million due to a drop in demand.
The agency’s overall budget allocation has increased by €63 million, or 5%, compared to last year.
Tusla will also have an additional 322 staff available this year.
Up to 42 children were missing from Tusla care at one point in 2026.
At a Budget press conference in October of last year, Foley was asked whether extra financial resources would lead to fewer children disappearing from State care.
“Well, of course, all of the funding that goes into Tusla is to enhance the services that they’re already providing,” Foley said at the time.
Very shortly after that, later the same month, an incident last year emerged involving a 10-year-old girl who “absconded” from Tusla care and was allegedly sexually assaulted on the grounds of the Citywest Hotel in Saggart.
In an article published in October 2025, the Irish Mirror reported that Gardaí were investigating the alleged rape of the girl, who was under the care of Tusla and was not staying at the hotel.
A male asylum seeker was charged with sexual assault, with the court hearing that he was unemployed. Separately, The Irish Times reported that a deportation order had been in place against him since March 2025.
Foley confirmed at the time that she had directed Tusla’s National Review Panel to open an inquiry, describing the allegations as a “very, very worrying case”.
Tánaiste Simon Harris urged calm following the incident at the time, describing the alleged assault as “deeply distressing, horrifying, shocking” and “profoundly concerning”.