{"id":454497,"date":"2026-05-18T07:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T07:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/454497\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T07:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T07:20:07","slug":"tusla-hires-security-guards-due-to-staffing-shortages-at-centre-for-very-vulnerable-children-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/454497\/","title":{"rendered":"Tusla hires security guards due to staffing shortages at centre for very vulnerable children \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tusla<\/a> hired security guards for special care workers and residents due to critically low staffing levels at one secure care unit for children in the past fortnight. <\/p>\n

An \u201cunexpected rise in sick leave\u201d at Crann\u00f3g Nua in north Co Dublin<\/a> had exacerbated \u201cstaffing challenges\u201d leading to the hiring of \u201cclose protection personnel … as an added safeguard\u201d, according to a spokesman for the agency.<\/p>\n

The issue will be raised before Judge John Jordan in the High Court<\/a> on Monday.<\/p>\n

Special care is the most secure form of care provided by Tusla to the most emotionally disturbed and vulnerable children. Children aged 11 to 17 may be detained in special care by the High Court in cases where their behaviours and circumstances are such that they pose a threat to their own lives or people around them. <\/p>\n

The State\u2019s three special care units have a capacity for 26 children, but just 15 beds are open due to staffing challenges. Tusla has set staffing ratios at 7:1 over a 24-hour period to ensure compliance with standards set by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa). <\/p>\n

The Irish Times understands staffing ratios have fallen well below 7:1 at Crann\u00f3g Nua since a child prone to aggression and violence has been admitted. This has led to a number of staff taking sick-leave. <\/p>\n

One professional who has worked in the child care system for more than a decade, and is familiar with the situation at Crann\u00f3g Nua, said they had \u201cnever seen things as bad as this\u201d. They described the deployment of security guards to the unit, where children are \u201calready carrying huge trauma\u201d, as \u201cso sad to see\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe system is disintegrating,\u201d they said. \u201cThese security guards are not trauma-informed and staff are saying they cannot stand over this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Records released under the Freedom of Information Act showed Tusla has spent more than \u20ac5.4 million on security guards to maintain children in placements since January 2024. <\/p>\n

Guards were deemed necessary to protect 25 children, and staff working with them, in that time. Two firms are providing the security \u2013 Sentinel and SRMI Risk Management. <\/p>\n

In 2024, two children were maintained in their placements by security guards, at a cost of \u20ac93,411. Last year, 14 children required security, at a cost of \u20ac3.5 million. <\/p>\n

So far this year, and excluding the latest developments at Crann\u00f3g Nua, nine children have been maintained with security guards, at a cost of more than \u20ac1.8 million. <\/p>\n

In a statement, Tusla said: \u201cStaffing challenges in one special care centre have increased over the past two weeks due to an unexpected rise in sick leave. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn response, we have mobilised additional management and social care staff to support this unit, alongside the targeted use of agency staff as needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tusla said it continued \u201cto prioritise safe and responsive care\u201d and was \u201cworking to maintain\u201d staffing ratios. <\/p>\n

\u201cAcross the national special care service, there are currently 97 social care staff available (excluding management grades).\u201d<\/p>\n

The agency confirmed that \u201cClose Protection Personnel (CPP)\u201d have been introduced in one centre \u201cas an added safeguard in response to significant incidents of violence and aggression against staff by one young person\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cCPP are only deployed in addition to existing social care staff and solely to support the safety of staff and young people, in line with organisational policies and procedures,\u201d it said. \u201cCPP staff have not been deployed to compensate for staffing shortages. There are currently two CPP staff deployed to support staff in one … unit.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tusla hired security guards for special care workers and residents due to critically low staffing levels at one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454498,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[615,103,73,61,60,53],"class_list":["post-454497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-dublin","tag-health","tag-high-court","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tusla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454497","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=454497"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454497\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454498"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}