The database of the office where asylum claims are registered do not allow for reporting on the number of instances a person claiming asylum has claimed to be a child but was subsequently found to be an adult, the Minister for Justice has told Carol Nolan TD.
The issue of verifying the age of those who claim to be unaccompanied minors when seeking asylum has drawn increased public attention after the brutal murder of a Ukrainian teenager allegedly carried out by a Somalian who claimed to be under-eighteen but who An Garda Síochána now suspect is not a juvenile but an adult male.
Deputy Nolan asked the Minister for Justice, who also has responsibility for Migration, “the number of times a person seeking international protection initially claimed to be a child but who was subsequently found to be an adult for each year since 2021 to date in 2025”.
In response, she was told that the International Protection Office (IPO) databases “do not allow for reporting on cases where the ages of applicants were, or are, under dispute”.
“What kind of third rate data deficient systems are we operating at all?” Deputy Nolan told Gript today. “This should be basic information, easily accessible and to hand when requested. Instead we have the usual blather about being unable to provide the information sought.”
“This is critically important information that we need to have if we are to have the slightest hope of ascertaining a trend on the number of adults posing as children within the asylum process,” she added.
The reply to Deputy Nolan said that: “When an applicant presents as an unaccompanied minor, the International Protection Office refers the individual to Tusla, the Child and Family Agency who assess their needs and eligibility for services. Tusla may then decide that an application for international protection should be made on behalf of the minor”.
“In cases where Tusla have determined an individual is not eligible to access their services, the individual’s application is managed through the process as an adult, and accommodated as such.”
“The IPO databases do not allow for reporting on cases where the ages of applicants were, or are, under dispute.”
The Independent TD for Offaly has previously stated that the age-verification processes within the asylum system are “not merely deficient but dangerously unreliable” and called for a “complete overhaul” of the State’s approach to the matter.
A 17-year-old Ukrainian, Vadym Davydenko, died after being subjected to a “frenzied attack” and suffering multiple stab wounds to his head, eyes, chest and hands inside an apartment in Grattan Wood, Donaghmede, on October 15.
Mr Davydenko had been in Ireland for four days and the apartment was a Tusla facility for unaccompanied minors who are seeking asylum.
The person who has been charged with the murder of Mr Davydenko is Somalian and was also in the Tusla apartment but is now believed by Gardaí to be and attended his second court hearing on October 21st surrounded by five gardaí in helmets and protective gear.
Deputy Nolan said that: “It is becoming more and more self evident that our age verification processes within the international protection system are not merely deficient, but dangerously unreliable. We need a complete overhaul of how we approach this issue. If in doubt, keep them out, of child services”.
Aontú Leader, Peadar Tóibín, has also called on the Minister for Children to provide answers as to why the suspect in the murder of Vadym Davydenko was placed in a children’s residential care unit.
“It has come to our knowledge that the suspect in the murder of Vadym Davydenko may well be an adult. We understand that there is documentary evidence to show that the suspect is an adult. We also understand that there are physical tests being undertaken on the suspect that may well show that he is an adult. If this is the case there are serious questions to be answered as to the ability of the International Protection system to identify those who seek asylum in this country. We are being told by the IPAS services that the identity and the background of each individual is known. That is clearly not the case,” he said.
“There are serious questions here also for the Minister for Children. This is not the first time adults have been placed in accommodation for unaccompanied minors. There is a massive child protection question here. If any other organisation were placing adults in children’s accommodation Tusla themselves would have major problems with it,” he said.
In August 2024, it was revealed that the Department of Children had “flagged concerns” that “in some cases, adults were claiming to be under 18 years of age in initial interviews with staff from the International Protection Office”.
Some adult asylum seekers may be claiming to be minors when arriving in the Republic, adding to “severe demands” on an already under-strain system for unaccompanied child asylum seekers, internal department briefings have warned.
Briefing notes from department officials state that these asylum seekers were later “assessed” to be adults, “or report afterwards that they are adults”. This was “adding to the already severe demands” on the system, the briefing said.
When a person claiming asylum alleged they were a minor, the preliminary interview with international protection staff was suspended and the person was “immediately referred” to Tusla, the child and family agency, the briefing stated. There was a need for international protection officials to conduct “a more in-depth interview” before the case was handed over to the Tusla team responsible for unaccompanied minors, it stated.
The briefing notes were released under FOI to Aontú’s Peadar Tóibín. At the time, Tusla said that the assessment by social workers of asylum seekers who claim to be under 18 looked at their journey, family network and personal and social development. “In some instances, the young person is determined not to be eligible, but wherever doubt exists the benefit of the doubt is given,” a spokesman said.
Tusla said last year that in 2023, 40% (171/432) of unaccompanied minors admitted to care/accommodated in 2023 were from Ukraine. The remaining 60% (261/432) of children were from about 30 different countries with the most common being Somalia, Afghanistan, Egypt, Algeria, Congo, Pakistan and Nigeria.
On December 31, 2024, there were 448 unaccompanied international protection applicant/Beneficiaries of Temporary Protection children/young people accommodated in Tusla supported services.
And they said that “approximately three quarters of newly arrived unaccompanied children are aged 16 and 17 on arrival to Ireland.”
Deputy Nolan last year asked then Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee, to provide data on the number of cases involving age-disputed minors identified by the international protection services and by any other relevant body under the aegis of her Department dealing with international protection, asylum and refugee claims.
“Where it appears to the International Protection Office (IPO) that an applicant is a minor, the person in question is referred to Child and Family Agency (TUSLA). TUSLA undertakes an assessment for eligibility for services and, for those deemed to be unaccompanied minors, TUSLA support the young persons in making an international protection application,” the Minister responded.
“There have been cases where TUSLA have deemed a young person not eligible for services and the young person has then completed an application for international protection as an adult. In some instances additional information comes to light during this application process which requires a further age assessment to be undertaken. This would happen, for example, where evidence of their minority is provided through identity documents. The IPO databases do not allow for reporting on cases where the ages of applicants were, or are, under dispute”.