{"id":307992,"date":"2026-02-20T12:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/307992\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T12:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T12:27:07","slug":"judge-criticises-shameful-profiteering-by-private-firms-providing-care-placements-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/307992\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge criticises \u2018shameful\u2019 profiteering by private firms providing care placements \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cprofiteering\u201d by private operators providing unregulated placements for \u201cthe most vulnerable children\u201d is \u201cwrong and shameful\u201d, a Dublin<\/a> District Court<\/a> judge has said. <\/p>\n

In what he described as an \u201cunusual\u201d step, Judge Conor Fottrell published a written decision on a case concerning a 13-year-old boy who remains missing from his unregulated placement, known as a special emergency arrangement (SEA). <\/p>\n

The case came before the judge\u2019s court on Wednesday for the third time in a week. <\/p>\n

When the \u201chighly vulnerable young boy\u201d came into care late last year, the only placement available\u201d was an SEA, notes the judge. <\/p>\n

\u201cNo other placement option has yet been identified.\u201d <\/p>\n

The boy has absconded more than once, apparently without staff at his placement noticing, the court heard. <\/p>\n

His social worker and court appointed advocate told the judge on Wednesday that the boy\u2019s condition was deteriorating, they believed he was being \u201cgroomed\u201d by criminals, taking drugs and that his life was \u201cat risk\u201d. <\/p>\n

The judge said he would publish a written decision on the case. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is unusual but from my perspective there has to be a record in relation to all this,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf in years to come [this boy] or some other child in the care of [Tusla<\/a>] comes back and asks, \u2018What the hell was everybody doing?\u2019, I want it very clear and I want it to be known this court had grave reservations in relation to the use of SEAs.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEAs are unregulated placements provided by private operators. They are not compliant with national standards, nor inspected by the Health Information and Quality Authority. They are typically in rented dwellings including hotels, B & Bs and holiday lets. <\/p>\n

Tusla, the child and family agency, paid more than \u20ac36 million to private operators for SEAs in the first seven months of last year in spite of growing concerns about their suitability and safety for vulnerable children. <\/p>\n

The judge\u2019s decision, in which he outlines his \u201cserious concern and reservations around [Tusla] … relying on an SEA as an option for children in care\u201d, was published on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis case highlights again the placement crisis that exists for children in the care of the State and how that crisis is impacting on the safety and welfare of children in care and placing them at an increased risk of harm,\u201d he wrote. <\/p>\n

The judge notes the boy had been the subject of 46 child protection referrals since 2012 centred around \u201cparental substance misuse in the home, reports of domestic violence, and reports of neglect\u201d. His mother is deceased and his father has had addiction issues. <\/p>\n

His \u201cprotecting and loving\u201d grandparent could not keep him safe from escalating involvement with older, criminal peers. The grandparent and father were present in court with legal representatives. <\/p>\n

The judge, granting a one-week extension to the interim care order, directed Tusla to \u201cprovide a suitable and appropriate registered placement\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that these SEAs are owned by private businesses and individuals who are profiteering out of a placement crisis for the most vulnerable children in care is just wrong and shameful,\u201d he said in his decision. <\/p>\n

Earlier on Wednesday, the same court heard a 17-year-old boy, born with foetal alcohol syndrome, was in an SEA after his foster placement broke down. He had no relationship with his birth family and was \u201ceffectively alone\u201d. <\/p>\n

He was calling his social worker \u201cup to 30 times a day\u201d in extreme distress and had taken 30 sleeping tablets in one recent incident. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just an unacceptable situation that we find ourselves in,\u201d said the judge. \u201cThe use of SEAs must come to an end. We cannot continue like this. We cannot have children in care that is unregulated, unregistered, unsuitable, and inappropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cprofiteering\u201d by private operators providing unregulated placements for \u201cthe most vulnerable children\u201d is \u201cwrong and shameful\u201d, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307993,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5721,615,23813,61,60,43,53],"class_list":["post-307992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-district-court","tag-dublin","tag-hiqa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-tusla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307992\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}