Child and Family Agency
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-19
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Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

Specifically on funding for building, Tusla plans to invest a total of €286 million in expanding mainstream residential care in 2026, representing an additional €53 million in current funding compared with the amount for 2025. The additional €53 million for mainstream residential care will provide for the full-year cost of beds opened part of the way through 2025 and for an additional 30 residential care places, which will bring the number of residential places for children in need to over 800. It is planned that the 30 additional mainstream residential placements will comprise 19 State-run statutory placements and 11 privately owned ones.
Specifically on safeguarding procedures, Tusla has developed standard operating procedures for placements. These detail extensive checks that any prospective special emergency accommodation provider must adhere to, including in relation to records management and staff vetting. Tusla has advised that all special emergency accommodation providers should be vetted by the central compliance unit. The unit ensures that Garda vetting and appropriate qualifications are in order before any child is placed with a prospective provider. The unit also carries out spot checks to validate staff on active duty. Tusla uses practice assurance and service monitoring reports to support the provision of high-quality services for children and families. The monitoring extends across Tusla activity, including in respect of special emergency accommodation. Importantly, young people in special emergency accommodation are visited weekly by a social worker or delegated person to have their voices heard and to check on the care being provided.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:40+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-19