Analysis of agency records show there were 4,552 referrals to Tusla’s Child Protection and Welfare Service in Galway in 2023, compared to 3,276 referrals in 2018, according to Tusla internal figures.
These referrals are based on “reasonable grounds for concern” that a child may have been abused, neglected, or is at risk of harm.
More than 2,900 children across the Galway-Roscommon region were referred to Family Support services in 2023 on foot of these referrals, up from 2,490 the year before. This is a 17.5 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of children Tusla social workers and other staff are actively working with.
Tusla requested a ‘Meitheal’ response for 111 children in the local region last year, down from 135 in 2022. This is a case-coordination process for families with additional needs who require the response of more than one service, but do not meet the threshold for referral to Tusla’s Social Work department based on child protection concerns.
A Tusla spokesman said there are currently 39 social work staff dealing with child protection referrals in Galway-Roscommon, out of a total of 265 employees across child welfare, care, fostering, family support and administration. “This figure does not include Tusla staff working in Adoption, Tusla Education Support Service (TESS ) or other regional services based in, or otherwise serving, Galway-Roscommon,” he said.
Meanwhile, across the Galway-Roscommon area, 219 young people were in receipt of Aftercare services in 2023, up from 197 the year before. This is a Tusla programme for young people aged 16 to 21 years’ old who have spent more than a year in the care of the state, with provision up the age of 23 if in full-time education or training.
Tusla is ten years old this year. There were 91,924 referrals to Tusla’s Child Protection and Welfare Service nationally in 2023, an 11 per cent increase on 2022. More than 5,600 children in Ireland were in state care at the end of 2023, 90 per cent of whom were in foster care.
“Since Tusla was established in 2014, child protection and welfare referrals to the agency have doubled,” said Tusla chairperson Pat Rabbitte, adding that demand for complex, specialised services has increased over recent years, such as for children fleeing war or natural disaster separated from their parents seeking International Protection.
Anyone concerned about the welfare of a child can report concerns to Tusla. The majority of evidence-based referrals are understood to come from teachers, child care workers, health professionals, gardaí and community organisations such a sports clubs or the religious sector.
