Topics / Child and Family Agency

A subject heading for parliamentary questions

Child and Family Agency

399 questions from 57 TDs, between 22 January 2025 and 21 October 2026.

399
questions
389 written, 10 oral
57
TDs have asked
11
parties and groups
Independents counted together
5
departments asked

Questions per month

The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.

Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
MonthQuestions
January 20254
February 20255
March 20254
April 20257
May 20254
June 202511
July 20254
August 20250
September 202538
October 20255
November 202536
December 202522
January 202619
February 202637
March 202634
April 202627
May 202678
June 202641
July 202616
August 20260
September 20266
October 20261

Who asks, by party

The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.

  • 100% RDR1 from 1 TD · 1 seat today
  • Aontú48 from 2 TDs · 2 seats today
  • Fianna Fáil25 from 16 TDs · 48 seats today
  • Fine Gael11 from 8 TDs · 38 seats today
  • Green Party8 from 1 TD · 1 seat today
  • Independent28 from 4 TDs · 15 seats today
  • Independent Ireland157 from 2 TDs · 4 seats today
  • Labour Party9 from 5 TDs · 11 seats today
  • People Before Profit-Solidarity14 from 1 TD · 3 seats today
  • Sinn Féin76 from 14 TDs · 39 seats today

The TDs who asked most

Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.

  1. 156
  2. 47
  3. 40
  4. 16
  5. 14
  6. 11
  7. 10
  8. 10

Asked of

Debated under the same heading

Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.

The questions

Ken O'Flynn Written 28 May 2026 · to Children
498. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla conducts any national audit, review or proportionality assessment regarding the use of emergency child removal powers under sections 12 and 13 of the Child Care Act 1991. [41022/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 28 May 2026 · to Children
499. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any national guidance, benchmark or threshold framework exists governing the use of Emergency Care Order applications under section 13 of the Child Care Act 1991. [41023/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 28 May 2026 · to Children
500. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether their Department receives periodic reports regarding the frequency, outcome or regional variation of Emergency Care Order applications under section 13 of the Child Care Act 1991. [41024/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 28 May 2026 · to Children
501. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any review has been undertaken since 2020 regarding the adequacy of aftercare supports for care-experienced young adults over 21 years of age, particularly those with histories of special care, psychiatric admission, severe trauma or placement instability; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41130/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 28 May 2026 · to Children
502. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether consideration has been given to extending statutory aftercare eligibility beyond 21 years of age for vulnerable care-experienced young adults with complex needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41131/26]
Réada Cronin Written 27 May 2026 · to Children
187. Deputy Réada Cronin asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the circumstances in which Tusla would decide to appeal a full care order passed down by a judge; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40669/26]
Peadar Tóibín Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
988. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality if Tusla independently verifies the identity and location of such family members before the child is considered to have left voluntarily [39579/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1000. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether her Department has issued any formal governance expectations, oversight directives, reporting requirements or policy guidance to Tusla concerning the proportionality, consistency or evidential thresholds applied in Emergency Care Order applications under sections 12 and 13 of the Child Care Act 1991. [39842/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1001. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether emergency child removals form part of any Departmental governance, safeguarding, audit or enterprise-risk oversight discussions with Tusla under the Oversight Agreement framework.; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39843/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1002. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether the Department receives any aggregate reporting concerning complaints, judicial criticism, overturned orders, or adverse findings relating to Emergency Care Orders. [39849/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1003. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether she is satisfied that Tusla's financial systems permitted consistent like-for-like tracking of private residential childcare expenditure prior to 2024. [39854/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1004. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether any external review has been undertaken into Tusla's historical financial categorisation systems for private residential childcare expenditure. [39855/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1006. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla has identified risks arising from inconsistent historical expenditure categorisation relating to private residential childcare services. [39857/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1011. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla records expenditure on private residential childcare placements on a provider-by-provider basis internally, notwithstanding the format used in published annual financial statements. [39862/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1013. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the total amount spent by Tusla on private residential childcare placements in each of the past ten years. [39864/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1014. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the percentage increase in Tusla expenditure on private residential childcare placements between 2020 and 2025. [39865/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1015. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla applies national pricing ceilings, benchmark rates, or value-for-money assessments when procuring private residential childcare placements. [39866/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1016. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla conducts comparative cost analysis between State-operated and privately operated residential childcare placements. [39867/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1017. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla records average weekly costs per child by private residential childcare provider. [39868/26]
Ken O'Flynn Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1019. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla publishes or intends to publish a central register of private residential childcare providers receiving public funding, including annual payments received. [39870/26]
Peadar Tóibín Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1057. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla disaggregates re referral data to distinguish between new concerns and repeat or unresolved child protection risks; and whether such distinctions are monitored as part of key performance or safeguarding indicators. [40179/26]
Peadar Tóibín Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1058. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether re referral rates within Tusla are included as formal key performance indicators, governance metrics or safeguarding indicators under the Tusla Oversight Agreement; whether any targets, thresholds or trend analyses are applied to such rates; and if she will provide details of how this information is used at departmental oversi…
Peadar Tóibín Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1059. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla disaggregates re referral data to distinguish between new concerns and repeat or unresolved child protection risks; and if she will provide the proportion of re-referrals falling into each category in the most recent year for which data is available. [40182/26]
Peadar Tóibín Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1060. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla collects and reports data on repeat child protection interventions involving the same child or family; whether such data forms part of any performance, risk, or oversight metrics; and if she will provide figures for each of the past five years. [40183/26]
Peadar Tóibín Written 26 May 2026 · to Children
1061. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality whether Tusla records the number of repeat emergency removals involving the same child or household; whether such events are tracked as safeguarding indicators or escalation triggers; and if she will provide data for each of the past five years. [40184/26]