Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 December 2018
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Children in Care
484. Deputy Denis Naughten asked the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the number of unaccompanied minors claiming asylum who have been taken into the care of the State in each year since 2009 and to date in 2018; the number reported missing in each year; the number who have been relocated; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [52138/18]
View answerSeparated children seeking asylum are defined as “children under eighteen years of age who are outside their country of origin, who have applied for asylum and are separated from their parents or their legal/customary care giver”. All children and young people in this service have an allocated Social Worker. All young people and young adults in the service who are entitled to Aftercare services have an allocated Aftercare Worker.
Table 1 sets out the total number of referrals to the Tusla Separated Children Seeking Asylum Team and the number of those children taken into care, from 2009-2017 and to date in 2018.
Table 1.
|
Year |
Total Referrals to Tusla Separated Children Seeking Asylum Team |
Children Placed in Care |
|
2009 |
203 |
126 |
|
2010 |
96 |
70 |
|
2011 |
99 |
66 |
|
2012 |
71 |
48 |
|
2013 |
120 |
62 |
|
2014 |
97 |
86 |
|
2015 |
109 |
82 |
|
2016 |
126 |
82 |
|
2017 |
175 |
111 |
|
2018 to date |
111 |
63 |
Table 2 sets out the number of missing unaccompanied minors and the number of minors relocated/found. A child is deemed to be missing according to his or her individualised absence management plan. Going missing from care can include missing a curfew, or an unscheduled absence from a care placement, and does not always mean that a child has disappeared or run away. It is important to note that one child could be reported missing more than once. There should be no inference made about whether these children made applications for international protection or not. Some children went missing before they were interviewed by a social worker.
Table 2.
|
Year |
Number of children reported missing |
Number of children found |
|
2009 |
50 |
12 |
|
2010 |
13 |
9 |
|
2011 |
8 |
2 |
|
2012 |
5 |
3 |
|
2013 |
5 |
3 |
|
2014 |
3 |
2 |
|
2015 |
10 |
5 |
|
2016 |
9 |
4 |
|
2017 |
8 |
5 |
|
2018 to date |
10 |
4 |
