Questions

1045. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether national child safeguarding guidance requires consideration of the sex of adults supervising children in settings involving changing, showering, toileting or sleeping arrangements; whether her Department has provided guidance on how such arrangements should operate where the sex of a supervising adult differs from their gender i…

656. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department has itself sought confirmation from Tusla as to whether any of any specific gaps are in fact recorded on the Corporate Risk Register, as distinct from restating who bears responsibility for maintaining that register. [52828/26]

657. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if her Department Oversight Agreement with Tusla provides any mechanism by which her Department is made aware of the contents of the Corporate Risk Register; or whether her Department has no visibility of it whatsoever. [52829/26]

658. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality given that three separate and substantively different governance gaps have now been put to her Department and met with the same non-substantive reply, whether she accepts that her Department is currently unable to state whether any of these matters are being treated as risks by Tusla at all. [52830/26]

659. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 439 of 2 July 2026, in which it was stated that reports from the two commissioned studies on the educational, career and life outcomes of care leavers "will be finalised and published shortly," and that planning is "underway" for a national longitudinal study following young people transitioning out …

662. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Questions Nos.1606 and 1614 of 9 June 2026, (details supplied), to confirm whether a defined threshold or escalation trigger exists for repeated placement breakdowns, and, if so, the threshold; whether the 328 figure, or equivalent data on repeat placements, is reported through any national governance, risk regis…

674. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 704 of 30 June 2026, in which her Department confirmed that permanency planning data is recorded in individual care plans but is not collated or reported nationally by Tusla; the reason no national system exists to aggregate this data given its centrality to the welfare of children in care; whether t…

403. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1613 of 9 June 2026, the reason the average number of placement changes experienced by children in State care, broken down by duration in care categories of less than one year, one to three years, three to five years, and more than five years, is not centrally collated by Tusla; if this data gap has …

404. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality given that Tusla’s only published placement stability metric is the number of children in their third or greater placement within the previous 12 months (328 of 5,729 children in care at end of 2025), whether her Department considers this metric sufficient to monitor placement stability across all durations in care; and if she will make …

405. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason for the 40% increase in the number of children in care experiencing three or more placement changes within a twelve-month period, from 231 in 2023 to 324 in 2024; whether this increase has been analysed by Tusla; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50556/26]

406. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the number of children in care experiencing three or more placement changes within a twelve-month period is recorded on any Tusla or Departmental risk register; whether this metric is subject to any audit process; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50557/26]

407. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason for the disproportionate increase in children experiencing three or more placement changes in the Dublin northeast region, which tripled from 30 in 2021 to 91 in 2025; whether any target or action plan exists to reduce placement instability nationally; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50558/26]

408. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla has conducted any internal audit, review, analysis, or risk assessment of the impact of repeated placement instability on educational attendance, mental health outcomes, behavioural presentations, or long-term permanency outcomes for children in care; if no such audit, review, analysis, or risk assessment exists, to confirm…

409. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the reason data on the outcomes of emergency care order applications for children under one year of age is not centrally collated by Tusla; if the Department considers this an acceptable gap in oversight of the most vulnerable cohort in the care system; if the Department will direct Tusla to establish a centralised dataset tracking reuni…

410. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if the absence of centrally collated outcome data for emergency care order cases involving children under one year of age appears on Tusla's corporate risk register or internal audit plan; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50581/26]

412. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1728 of 9 June 2026, of the 50 recommendations made by the National Review Panel between 2020 and 2025, the number implemented, the number partially implemented and the number outstanding; and if this information cannot be provided pending the Quarter 4 2026 audit, the way her Department currently as…

413. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1647 of 9 June 2026, in respect of the 51 active National Review Panel notifications covering 79 children, the date of the oldest outstanding referral; the average time taken to complete a review; and the steps being taken to reduce the number of reviews awaiting allocation or completion. [50637/26]

414. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 921 of 12 May 2026, to confirm that no cap, limit or oversight mechanism currently applies to the profit margins of private providers of State-funded residential childcare placements; whether she considers such a mechanism warranted given the scale of private provision; and if she will make a stateme…

415. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 942 of 12 May 2026, whether any independent value-for-money audit, as distinct from the bi-annual contract reviews referenced in that reply, has been conducted into private residential childcare placements since 2020; if so, to publish the findings; and if not, whether she will commission one. [50640…

416. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total expenditure by Tusla on placements purchased from private children's residential centres; the total expenditure on all residential care placements; and the percentage share represented by private placements, in each year from 2020 to 2026; and if figures for years prior to 2024 cannot be provided, the reasons therefor. [50641/2…

417. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the absence, to date, of a completed centralised system for tracking the implementation of National Review Panel recommendations has been entered on the Tusla Corporate Risk Register; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50645/26]

418. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1082 of 12 May 2026, whether any independent value-for-money audit, as distinct from the bi-annual contract reviews referenced in that reply, has been conducted into private residential childcare placements since 2020; if so, to publish the findings; and if not, whether she will commission one. [5064…

419. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 1587 of 9 June 2026, given the confirmation that Tusla maintains no key performance indicator for time-to-permanency, whether her Department has assessed the absence of such an indicator as a governance or child-welfare risk; whether this absence is recorded on any Tusla or Departmental risk register…

420. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality further to Parliamentary Question No. 961 of 26 May 2026, if she will commit to the introduction of a national key performance indicator, benchmark or target timeframe for the achievement of permanency outcomes for children in care; the timeframe for its introduction; and if not, the reasons therefor. [50650/26]

421. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number and proportion of children in the care of the State for periods of five years or more, and ten years or more, respectively, as of the latest available date; whether her Department monitors the size of this cohort as an indicator of care drift; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50651/26]