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\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
TUSLA HAS SAID it doesn\u2019t know how many foster carers have been struck off in recent years.<\/p>\n
The Child and Family Agency said it has \u201cidentified inconsistencies in the historic recording and reporting\u201d of information sought by The Journal Investigates under Freedom of Information and that it \u201ccannot currently validate the figures to a standard that would allow us to confidently stand over them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The situation has resulted in Tusla last week having to add a correction to its own recently-published annual review of its services for children after we had highlighted that it featured incorrect data.<\/p>\n
In an initial response to a Freedom of Information request from The Journal investigates on net recruitment of foster carers between 2023 and 2025 inclusive, Tusla said 46 foster carers had been \u201cstatutorily ceased\u201d \u2013 that is, required to step back from fostering \u201cby reason of a founded allegation, a complaint or serious concern\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, in response to a subsequent FOI request, Tusla admitted that its initial response was incorrect and that the figure of 46 was \u201can overcount\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Part of the problem is that the figure is not centrally collated.<\/p>\n
Tusla stressed that \u201cthere were no adverse effects to children in care, foster carers, current and former, or to local service planning processes due to this manual counting error.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two weeks later Tusla admitted that it was unable to provide a correct figure.<\/p>\n
It comes as a number of recent reports have stressed the key role played by fostering in the Irish care system and how elements of it have come under pressure due to new and old challenges.<\/p>\n
Fostering numbers under pressure<\/p>\n
\n Alamy Stock Photo<\/p>\n
Alamy Stock Photo\n<\/p>\n
Data provided to The Journal Investigates shows that in the past three years 770 carers stopped fostering, while 607 began fostering in the same period.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tusla said that although this represented a net loss of 163 foster carers in that period, the annual gap between the number of carers leaving and those being approved was narrowing, contrary to trends seen internationally.<\/p>\n
Separate data provided by Tusla under Freedom of Information shows the challenges faced by those living and caring in the foster system, including challenging behaviour by the young person.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the same three-year period between 2023 and 2025, Tusla had 297 disruption reports about foster placements that came under pressure for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n
According to Tusla, those ranged from more prosaic reasons, such as a foster carer retiring, to an inability to meet the needs of a child in care, including mental health issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another prime reason for a placement entering a phase where a disruption report is required is when a foster carer claims an \u201cinability \u2026 to manage young person\u2019s difficult behaviour\/escalating behavioural difficulties of young person\/absconding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among other reasons listed is \u201cimpact of cultural identity of foster carers on the child in care\u201d.<\/p>\n
Tusla said this could apply to an Irish-born child living in a family who are originally from overseas, or the reverse \u2013 a child in foster care who is originally from overseas but living with Irish foster parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth situations can arise in a growing multicultural society,\u201d a Tusla spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since more than one disruption report can be linked to a single child, the 297 figure does not indicate the number of children impacted, but rather the number of times a placement ended or was in danger of doing so.<\/p>\n
Other reasons cited by Tusla regions included where private arrangements have broken down, such as where a child is not in care but Tusla may be supporting the carer financially.<\/p>\n
Tusla managers also cited issues with relative foster care. One area directly referenced is where \u201cgrandparents struggled to prioritise [a] child\u2019s needs and [the] child over time did not want contact with grandparents.\u201d<\/p>\n
Some foster carers \u201cstatutorily ceased\u201d<\/p>\n
Some data is not centrally collated by Tusla \u2013 including the number of foster carers who are in effect removed from fostering because of a founded allegation, a complaint or serious concern.<\/p>\n
When outlining how the 46 figure was inaccurate, Tusla said: \u201cIn exploring the potential to standardise this data as a national metric going forward, we commenced a validation process.\u201d<\/p>\n
It initially said it would review its definitions and reporting on this area of fostering data and would rectify the figure \u2013 something which did not happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing further examination of the information, we have identified inconsistencies in the historic recording and reporting of some of the information you requested,\u201d a Tusla spokesperson said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, we cannot currently validate the figures to a standard that would allow us to confidently stand over them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t want to compound the issue by providing you with further figures that may subsequently require correction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The spokesperson said that relevant information relating to individual children, foster carers and cases is held within individual records but that some historic national reporting relied on the manual collection of information from teams and areas across the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cManual reporting processes have inherent limitations, including the potential for variation in how definitions are interpreted and applied across teams and over time. This becomes particularly relevant when attempting to compile retrospective national information from historic records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foster care is one of the areas currently being developed within the Tusla Case Management (TCM) system, which launched in 2021, with the aim of reducing reliance on manual data collection and strengthening reporting capability.<\/p>\n
Tusla recently published its annual review of adequacy<\/a>, which since last week has included a correction<\/a> on the 2025 figure for foster carers who had to step back from the role.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Tusla said it would provide an update \u201conce this work has completed on what information, if any, can then be reliably provided.\u201d<\/p>\n Social workers: risk is limited<\/p>\n Despite the gap in the data, social workers believe it is not likely to pose a risk to children.<\/p>\n The chief operating officer of the Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW), Caroline Strong, said the assessment process for foster carers was \u201creally robust\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no way, with the amount of checks they have to do, if someone had been previously fostering [and been struck off] \u2013 they couldn\u2019t move county, move area or move province and pop up somewhere else and start fostering,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n However, Strong said that more data was needed to learn why some foster carers step away from fostering.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the reasons, we suspect, are practical \u2013 we are in a time when both parents work, or there is no spare bedroom because adult children are still living at home.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of it is that children needed support more than the foster parents themselves can provide.<\/p>\n There is a lack of access to CAMHS, or therapeutic services, and if you are in foster care, you have trauma.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tusla said it had no additional information on reasons for people leaving fostering, with its TCM System \u201cexpected to offer a more comprehensive overview of reasons for exits\u201d in future.<\/p>\n \u201cQuarterly reporting on reasons for exits is not undertaken,\u201d it said. \u201cA desk-based review conducted in 2024 indicated that many departures were due to retirement; however, this was not a rigorous research exercise and provides only an indicative view.\u201d<\/p>\n Risk of burnout<\/p>\n
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