Among other issues coming from the report are parental disability including mental health issues, addiction, domestic violence and the absence of one or both parents due to death or imprisonment.

This is the first volume of child care reports for 2026, based on attendance in District court child proceedings during the first half of the year. There are 106 reports, ranging in length from several thousand words to a few hundred.

The reports cover; applications from Tusla seeking full care orders for children deemed to be at risk of abuse or neglect, normally preceded by interim care orders and extensions of these orders; reviews of children in care, re-entries of their cases when issues arise, applications to the court from guardians ad litem relating the needs of the children in care and, from time to time, the examination of legal issues that arise in the course of proceedings.

While a number of cases feature parental disability, including both mental health issues and cognitive disability, and the absence of one or both parents due to death or imprisonment, what is noticeable in this volume of cases is the number of cases where finding a suitable placement for the child is the main issue.

The children involved usually have behavioural problems that make it impossible for them to live at home or in regular foster care. In some instances, suitable foster placements are just not available, especially for older children, leading them to be placed in “special emergency arrangements”.

This issue is at the centre of 17 cases, constituting one in six of the total number of reports. In most instances, the child was in an unregulated ‘Special Emergency Arrangement’, from which they frequently absconded, placing themselves at risk of criminality and sexual exploitation. 

Often these children had been deemed eligible for special care, but no place was available. One pre-teen child was a “social admission” to a hospital, because no suitable place could be found for him and he could not live at home because of severe behavioural issues. Judges repeatedly expressed their concern, alarm and distress at the apparent intractability of the problem.

Speaking about the publication, Child Law Project executive director, Dr Carol Coulter, said: “We have been highlighting the lack of appropriate placements for an exceptionally vulnerable and at-risk cohort of children and young people for the past few years, reporting on the concerns of the judiciary who are hearing such cases week in and week out. Yet the problem seems to be getting worse rather than better. It is imperative that the whole Government, and not just Tusla, make it a priority to solve this issue.”