The child and family agency Tusla has confirmed that it previously engaged with a young boy missing in Donabate, Co Dublin, who Gardaí presume is now dead.
The State agency said in a statement that it had engagement with the child in 2020 but that engagement ceased that year. It said no new referral or information was received by Tusla until August 2025. In a statement released by a spokesperson for Tusla, the agency said:
“At the request of the family, our services had previous engagement with this child and their family, and these services ceased in 2020.
“Since 2020, no new referral or new information of concern was received about this child until August 2025. On foot of this we contacted an An Garda Siochana with our concerns for the safety and well-being of the child.”
The agency, who says it wishes to be “open and transparent with the public” said it first raised concerns on Friday with Gardaí in relation to the child.
The spokesperson added: “As is normal process, where there is a serious incident or death involving a child open to, or previously known to our service, we conduct a review of our engagement and that review is sent to the National Review Panel.
“While this is being completed, the priority must be on allowing An Garda Síochána to complete their investigations, without doing anything to interfere with that, and with that in mind we will not be providing further detail on our involvement with the child and their family at this time.”
It is understood the alarm was first raised when the child’s mother, who is originally from Africa, tried to claim child benefit payments from the Department of Social Protection for the child. Staff became suspicious when the woman was unable to provide proof that the child had been attending school or had visited a doctor to back up her education. Social welfare workers then contacted Tusla.
A major Garda probe has resulted in the sealing off of an area in Donabate, but nothing has been found in the search so far. There are fears that the boy, who would be aged seven, has not been seen alive for four and a half years.
The mother of the child has alleged that her son was killed by an ex partner, whilst Garda are not ruling out the possibility that the boy died from natural causes.
The boy or his family have yet to be identified. Gardaí are appealing to anyone who has any information in connection with the investigation to contact Swords Garda Station on 01 666 4700, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda Station.
No arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
Earlier today, there were questions over the potential impact of the Covid crisis in relation to the case.
The head of the Children’s Rights Alliance questioned if the Covid crisis allowed the missing child to “slip through the net.”
Tanya Ward, speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland today, described the case as disturbing, saying: “Did this child slip through the net because public services did not have the level of contact that they normally would in the ordinary course of events? These are all the questions I think we’re all asking ourselves and that need to be answered.”
“There’s public health nurses, there are GPs, there’s services they may have been in contact with. And I’m thinking did anyone see anything? Did anyone intervene? Is there something that could have been done to help this child early in his life?”
Similarly, TD Peadar Tóibín said: “It has been suggested that this poor boy may have fallen through the cracks due to Covid. The Irish government closed down schools here for longer than any other country in Europe. “We warned at the time that children in need would fare disastrously without the supports and oversight of teachers and schools in their lives.
“There was a massive spike of children being referred to Tusla just after Covid. It’s deeply frustrating that the Irish government are still refusing to have a full public inquiry into the decisions they made during Covid that caused so much harm.”