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InvestigatesSpecial Emergency ArrangementsTUSLA HAVE REFERRED five providers of Special Emergency Arrangements (SEA) to the Garda National Vetting Bureau over significant vetting concerns, the agency has confirmed to The Journal Investigates.
The agency also told our team that they have ceased engagement with eight providers.
A spokesperson for Tusla said that it has “ceased engagement with private providers who did not meet the required standards related to validated staff training, qualifications, references and vetting.”
They added “where we have significant cause for concern, such as suspected fraud or serious wrongdoing, we refer it without delay to An Garda Síochána.”
Tusla declined to comment on “specific previous or ongoing concerns relating to individual providers”, citing an active review and due process.
SEA placements are typically used for children in crisis, where a previous placement or home has broken down, and they are in need of emergency care.
They exist as a result of a lack of suitable alternatives in the regulated care system.
Separately, a Tusla audit obtained by The Journal Investigates under Freedom of Information reveals that a quarter of staff working in SEAs last year did not have the required documentation to work with vulnerable children.
These missing documents may include a CV, Garda vetting, qualifications, work permits, references, or overseas police clearance.
Documents obtained by our team show that some staff at a major SEA provider did not have the required overseas police clearance, which is similar to Garda vetting, on file when audited by Tusla’s Central Compliance Unit (CCU).
This clearance is required if a staff member has spent a period of 6 months or more living outside the island of Ireland since age 16, and can be obtained from the national police force of the country lived in.
It lists the convictions, if any, recorded against an individual while residing in another country.
The Tusla CCU report states that these staff were removed immediately, but the findings raise serious concerns over their access to vulnerable children in care without the proper documentation.
A spokesperson for Tusla said that where staff are found to be missing an overseas police clearance “the SEA provider [is] advised that the staff member…should not be rostered.”
There is no suggestion that the providers contained within this audit are the same ones Tusla have ceased engagement with or referred to the Gardaí.
The audit also found a further 29% of staff were missing “minor documents”, such as evidence of first aid, fire safety training, or no proof of address.
This means that over half of the staff files audited of those working in SEAs last year were missing some kind of documentation.
Though children are placed in these SEAs by Tusla, they are typically not actively managed or staffed by the agency.
The Journal Investigates previously reported that vulnerable children in these placements are spending years in unregulated emergency accommodation, even though they are supposed to be temporary.
Inspection reports for some SEAs also revealed instances of blocked fire escapes, locked first aid boxes, young people not allocated a social worker and children being moved from one SEA to another.
Wayne Stanley, chief executive officer for EPIC [Empowering People In Care], told The Journal Investigates the most recent findings were “incredibly alarming and unforgivable” and questioned the fitness of some providers to continue caring for vulnerable children.
The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon, added that the findings are “a shocking revelation”, adding “that’s what happens when you don’t have regulation.”
A spokesperson for the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) previously told our team, “Hiqa has no legal regulatory remit regarding these centres,” adding that they have “previously expressed concern about children and young people being placed in SEAs” because they are outside of its regulatory remit.
A spokesperson for the Department of Children echoed the statement from Tusla, adding that they were working with the agency to reduce its dependence on SEAs.
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The audit was carried out by Tusla’s SEA Central Compliance Unit (CCU), which oversees the screening process for staff working in SEAs.
Providers must submit staff files to the CCU for review and are told by Tusla not to roster staff who are missing vetting documents.
The Child and Family Agency audits these files “to seek a second level of assurance”, a spokesperson told our team.
But a compliance audit undertaken in April 2025 and released to The Journal Investigates reveals serious shortcomings in some staff files of those caring for vulnerable children.
As part of the audit, Tusla’s CCU carried out a spot check of 12 providers across 48 premises during a week in April last year.
At a regional branch of the provider Kare Plus, the audit found “instances of staff rostered without overseas police clearance.” These staff were removed immediately, according to the report.
A spokesperson for Tusla told our team that providers are advised that staff should not be rostered when found to be missing documentation.
Kare Plus, which operates 11 branches across the country, is one of the largest providers of SEAs to Tusla.
It is not clear which branch of Kare Plus the audit is referring to, and a Tusla spokesperson declined to comment on specific cases.
Kare Plus did not respond to requests for comment from our team.
Stanley said in these placements, “you’re often dealing with some of the most vulnerable young people who need emergency intervention.”
The issue of staff not having police clearance should have “been a Rubicon for Tusla that couldn’t be crossed, because the potential for long-term harm is so significant,” Stanley told our team. He added:
Immediate action should be taken to look at the appropriateness of such a provider providing services.
A spokesperson for Tusla would not comment on “specific previous or ongoing concerns relating to individual providers, as these matters remain under active review and are subject to due process”
However, they added that “there are strong systems of governance and oversight”, which includes “robust oversight to validate Garda vetting, qualifications, references, and required training.”
“Where we identify providers who have not met the required standards, we take immediate action to address them directly with the provider, to resolve the issue in the best interest of the young people in care,” the spokesperson continued.
They added, “ensuring that children and young people in the care of Tusla are in the appropriate care placement, with the appropriate support services, is an enduring priority for the agency.”
In addition to these findings, the spot check of providers completed by Tusla found numerous SEAs without a required social care worker having been rostered, repeated use of non-compliant staff and rostering of staff for hours in excess of legal limits.
A non-compliant staff member is one whose files are missing a “major document”, such as a CV, Garda vetting, overseas police clearance, qualifications, work permits, or references.
The same Kare Plus branch that had staff without an overseas police clearance also had between 59 and 82 non-compliant staff rostered to work over a seven-week period between March and May last year.
Our team asked Kare Plus about these findings, but we did not receive a response.
Dr Muldoon, the Children’s Ombudsman, told The Journal Investigates that these placements are for “the most vulnerable children who need an emergency placement [and] are probably coming out of extremely traumatic, possibly violent circumstances.”
He said in response to our investigation that these types of placements are “haphazard, quickly pulled together, [and] not fully regulated.” He added:
We just can’t stand over that anymore.
The audit notes that financial penalties have previously been implemented against some SEA providers to stop rostering of non-compliant staff.
A spokesperson for Tusla told The Journal Investigates there are “financial implications” for an SEA provider that rosters non-compliant staff, “as unqualified staff are unsuitable for work and therefore not paid”.
“Tusla cannot comment on any specific [prior or] ongoing concerns with individual providers,” the spokesperson added.
Kare Plus is not the only SEA provider identified in the audit. MCMA, another large provider of SEAs to Tusla, is also featured.
Here, the audit found incomplete rosters with incorrect contact details for staff. There were also staff on overlapping shifts and it had staff rostered back-to-back between locations in different counties.
Some staff had also been rostered for between 96 and 100 hours in the week, according to the report.
The Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997 sets the maximum number of hours a person can work in an average working week at 48 hours.
For most employees, an average working week is calculated by the number of hours worked, averaged out over four months.
It is unclear whether staff actually worked these hours or whether, on average, they breached the legal limit for working hours.
MCMA did not respond to requests for comment from our team.
Another provider, whose name has been redacted by Tusla citing personal information, also rostered staff for between 97 and 120 hours per week, according to the audit.
Again, it is unclear whether staff actually worked these hours or if a breach occurred.
The audit by Tusla’s Central Compliance Unit also found that over half of the staff working in SEAs were missing some kind of documentation last year.
A quarter of staff files were missing major documentation, such as Garda vetting, qualifications, overseas police clearance and work permits.
A further 29% of staff were found to be partially compliant, with minor documents missing.
This includes evidence of first aid, fire safety, Children First training – which promotes the protection of children from abuse and neglect – and having no proof of address.
Just 17.3% of staff were fully compliant according to the audit.
This is the second year the audit has been carried out on SEA providers.
In 2024, almost two-thirds of staff (65.5%) were missing major documentation, while a further 25% were missing minor documents.
Just 26 out of a total of 1,177 (2.1%) staff were fully compliant.
The report also provides a breakdown of the number of staff who have been “removed” from SEA providers.
A total of 663 staff are listed as being “removed” from providers as of April 2025, with more than 400 of these coming from the “active” SEA providers.
A spokesperson for Tusla said, “this refers to staff who no longer provide services on behalf of Tusla. They may have resigned and no longer work with that provider, or the provider may be using them with other services rather than with Tusla.”
Stanley said the findings suggest that providers don’t understand “the importance and value of making sure that all staff are vetted and that [it] is evidenced and clear to hand”.
Muldoon added that these types of placements have “no protections in law” and are “not child-centred”. Providers, he said, are making millions of euro but he queried whether they were delivering the service at the level that should be provided.
“We need to move away from that as quickly as possible, and use the millions of euro that have been invested in it to start creating more stable, fully staffed, proper services around the country,” he continued.
A spokesperson for Tusla told our team the agency is “significantly expanding residential care capacity across the country to further reduce reliance on SEAs throughout 2026.”
They added that they are working with SEA providers “to transition into a regulated environment, aligning with national standards and providing greater assurance of quality, safety and consistency for children and young people.”
Reporter: Conor O’Carroll • Editor: Noel Baker • Social Media & Video: Cliodhna Travers • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly
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