{"id":514061,"date":"2026-06-23T09:05:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/514061\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:05:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T09:05:08","slug":"staffing-at-states-largest-centre-for-vulnerable-children-has-fallen-off-a-cliff-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/514061\/","title":{"rendered":"Staffing at State\u2019s largest centre for vulnerable children has \u2018fallen off a cliff\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staffing at the State\u2019s largest special care unit, where the most emotionally disturbed children are detained for their own safety, has \u201cfallen off a cliff\u201d, a High Court<\/a> judge has said. <\/p>\n

Judge John Jordan heard the number of children that could be accommodated at the Crann\u00f3g Nua centre in north Co Dublin<\/a> had been reduced due to \u201cvery high levels of staffing that are out on sick leave\u201d. <\/p>\n

Sarah McKechnie, barrister for Tusla<\/a>, told the court on Monday that one child \u2013 whom the court heard had benefited \u201cremarkably\u201d from special care \u2013 had to be moved within the campus because \u201cof the staff numbers on the ground\u201d. <\/p>\n

The boy, who had been involved in no serious incidents where their or others\u2019 safety was threatened in special care, had experienced \u201ceight and counting\u201d incidents since being moved. <\/p>\n

He was \u201cnot happy\u201d at being moved and despite being told it was temporary it was now \u201cunfortunately a permanent move\u201d, said McKechnie. <\/p>\n

Special care is the most secure form of care where highly disturbed and dysregulated children aged 11-17 may be detained by the High Court for therapeutic interventions. <\/p>\n

Just 14 of the State\u2019s 26 special care beds are open due to challenges faced by Tusla in recruiting and retaining staff. <\/p>\n

In recent weeks, following the admission to Crann\u00f3g Nua of a particularly disturbed and violent child, a number of staff have taken injury leave. <\/p>\n

A number of staff have also been put on leave by management due to them disagreeing with changed work practices. Security personnel have been deployed at the campus to ensure the safety of staff and children. The number of beds has been reduced by one to four. <\/p>\n

\u201cCrann\u00f3g Nua appears to be experiencing a level of crisis,\u201d said David Leahy, barrister for the boy\u2019s court appointed advocate, who said his client \u201cwonders if there is some form of staffing crisis under way\u201d.<\/p>\n

McKechnie said the situation was \u201cvery difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere continues to be very high levels of staffing that are out on sick leave … The management are managing it as best they can while ensuring they are keeping the children safe in Crann\u00f3g Nua … It has been difficult and it has required decisions including [the boy] moving units.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was \u201ccurious\u201d situation, said the judge, given \u201call of the assurances\u201d by Tusla that \u201cnew initiatives were being taken to make work in special care more attractive for people\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact it is not that situation has simply deteriorated. It has fallen off a cliff in terms of staffing numbers and availability of beds.\u201d <\/p>\n

Three boys that the court ordered be detained in special care could not access beds.<\/p>\n

It was \u201cdisgraceful\u201d that a boy who was \u201copenly using cannabis on a daily basis\u201d and taking \u201cvery potent drugs\u201d including ketamine could not get a bed, the judge said. <\/p>\n

He said another boy at \u201cvery high\u201d risk, who was repeatedly missing from care, \u201cquite clearly\u201d needed a bed urgently. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs in all of these cases this child is suffering because [Tusla] is not complying with the court order,\u201d said the judge. <\/p>\n

A boy whose family came to Tusla\u2019s attention the year he was born was also ordered to be detained in special care. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe has broken down all placements he has been allocated, including a number of family foster placements, which is particularly sad,\u201d said McKechnie. <\/p>\n

He was placing himself and others in serious danger at times, had symptoms of paranoia and suicidal ideation and had experienced seriously inadequate parenting. <\/p>\n

Making the order, the judge said the boy was \u201cinvolving himself in very significant criminal behaviour, drug use, drug dealing, carrying weapons, property damage, threats to those trying to help him and acting out violently and aggressively, frequently and to an escalating extent\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staffing at the State\u2019s largest special care unit, where the most emotionally disturbed children are detained for their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":514062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[73,61,60,80,53],"class_list":["post-514061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-high-court","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology","tag-tusla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514061","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=514061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/514061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/514062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=514061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=514061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=514061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}