Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 November 2014
322. Deputy Clare Daly asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs his views in relation to the number of children who have disappeared from State care over the past five years; the numbers who were subsequently found, and the age profile of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42847/14]
View answerAs the Deputy may be aware, there is a joint protocol in place between the Child and Family Agency, and An Garda Síochána, referred to as Children Missing From Care - A Joint Protocol between An Garda Síochána and the Health Service Executive Children and Family Service, which includes a definition of a child being considered as missing for the purposes of reporting to the Gardaí. The Agency has informed me that as of 31 May 2014 there was no child missing while being in the care of the State.
I have requested the information from the Child and Family Agency and I will revert to the Deputy when the reply is to hand. In the interim I would note that the Agency has informed my Department previously that it has collated information directly from each administrative area for the first half of 2014 but commented that it was not in a position to validate the result for performance reporting purposes. The results indicated that a total of 113 children went missing while in the care of the State and that, as of 31 May 2014, all children reported missing have been returned either to their family or their care setting.
