Children in care put into home surrounded by ‘foul-smelling’ sewage

Children in State care were living in a property surrounded by “foul-smelling” sewage, while others were left sleeping in “small and unsuitable” shared rooms, internal inspections found.

Inspections of emergency accommodation for vulnerable children taken into State care found cases where some private companies running the placements had failed to properly report “significant” safety risks. The inspection reports, seen by The Irish Times, prompted Tusla, the child and family agency, to urgently review whether several emergency arrangements housing children were fit for purpose.

Tusla inspectors raised concerns about one case where children were put into a property beside a yard “filled with sewage” that smelled “awful”. In other cases companies running emergency accommodation had been “underreporting” significant issues, such as children going missing from care and child protection concerns.

Tusla has come under pressure over its increasing reliance on the emergency arrangements, which politicians and advocacy groups have criticised as inappropriate. The inspection reports highlight a serious disparity in conditions between registered group care homes and the unregulated emergency accommodation known as “special emergency arrangements”.

There are 172 children in care in the emergency arrangements, which are often a rented house or apartment run by private care staff. Tusla found evidence of “inadequate” care being provided to children in multiple arrangements.

Child asylum seekers, who arrived in the Republic without guardians, were put into “small and unsuitable” accommodation by Tusla, reports said. In one instance the children were sleeping in rooms where they did not have enough space to store their clothes and belongings.

Unlike in regulated group care homes where children are required to have their own bedroom, in emergency arrangements teenagers often have to share rooms, due to a shortage of accommodation. One inspection of an emergency arrangement found children were “sleeping in bunk beds in three shared bedrooms”.

Another report said staff working for one provider of accommodation had a “lack of awareness of basic health and safety requirements”. In a number of cases Tusla inspectors advised the agency to urgently consider whether some properties being used to house children met fire safety standards.

Tusla inspectors identified “inconsistencies” in information provided by one private company, where “immediate safeguarding issues” had been uncovered during an inspection. The reports detailed that Tusla social workers also raised concerns that they did not have time to visit children in the emergency arrangements often enough, “due to existing caseloads and limited resources”.

One property where children in care were living had burnt rubbish piled at the side of the house, while another home was “scarcely furnished and did not appear as warm and welcoming”, inspections said.

In a statement Tusla said it had cut ties with four companies that had been running emergency accommodation, due to shortcomings. Where concerns were identified Tusla said it took “immediate and swift action”. An increase in demand and a shortage of places in regulated group homes and foster care meant the agency had to rely on the emergency arrangements, which it said it sought to move children out of as soon as possible.

Tusla had initially refused to release copies of the internal inspection reports in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from The Irish Times. It released redacted versions of the reports that withheld the names of companies running the placements following an appeal of its initial decision.