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Investigatesresidential careTHERE ARE GROWING concerns over children being prosecuted for damage to property in residential care placements, including in unregulated Special Emergency Arrangements.
Damage to property caused by young people in residential care settings has likely amounted to almost €2 million between the start of 2022 and the end of June 2025, amid warnings that the nature of some placements may be contributing to violent incidents.
In addition, the Office of the Ombudsman for Children (OCO) has told The Journal Investigates that it had met young people who have faced criminal charges due to damage in Special Emergency Arrangements – such as hotels or apartments – “which are simply not fit to meet the needs of these highly vulnerable children”.
“Criminalising these children for property damage entrenches stigma, undermines their rights, and fails in the State’s duty of care,” the OCO warned.
Data provided by Tusla under Freedom of Information shows there were at least 491 incidents where the damage in residential care settings cost more than €1,000, while another 2,470 incidents cost between €101 and €1,000 in the same three-and-a-half year period.
A conservative estimate based on those figures would mean a possible €1.7 million cost for damaged property in residential care settings – even before factoring in another 3,023 incidents where damage was estimated at less than €100.
However, for many working with children in care, the concern isn’t around broken doors and tables.
Some experts have warned that children in high-level care placements can act out or respond to bad news by damaging property, and that involving gardaí – or the courts – is only likely to impact negatively on their future prospects.
A private provider of residential care beds told The Journal Investigates that it would be “completely inappropriate” if staff were “using gardaí as an on-call service”, while another provider said: “We should not be making criminals of children who are vulnerable on the basis that we cannot manage them.”
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Tusla records the data on damage to property in residential care in two ways: under its Significant Event Notification (SEN) Register, and also under its National Incident Management System (NIMS).
The figures for both vary hugely. According to the SEN Register, there were 5,984 incidents of property being damaged in a residential care setting between January 2022 and the end of June 2025.
According to Tusla, these relate to Children’s Residential Services, which include Special Care, Tusla general centres, voluntary general centres and private providers. It does not include Special Emergency Arrangements (SEAs) or centres for Separated Children Seeking International Protection (SCSIPs).
A Tusla spokesperson said the actual cost or expenditure in relation to repairs is not captured on the SEN database, which is primarily used to record incidents or events that occur for or relating to young people in residential care.
Under the NIMS recording mechanism, just 40 incidents were recorded in the same three-and-a-half year period, but of those, 17 were referred to gardaí.
According to Tusla, each of these incidents involved “damage to inanimate objects” but there is no information regarding prosecutions or outcomes.
A spokesperson said, “Tusla does not centrally hold records or collate figures as to whether young persons are facing criminal charges relating to incidents of property damage”, adding that such information would only be noted on individual case files.
Child law solicitor Gareth Noble, a partner with legal firm KOD Lyons, said the Tusla figure of 17 cases where a young person was referred to gardaí on foot of damage to property in a care setting was “grossly under-representing the true situation”.
“I can think of one case where guards were called more than 17 times,” he said.
However, the Office of Children’s Ombudsman Dr Niall Muldoon said it knew young people in SEAs had faced criminal charges for damage in those settings, adding: “It should not be allowed to happen”.
“The OCO has long highlighted our concerns over Special Emergency Arrangements, which have no role in a model of care due to the harm they are causing to children’s lives,” it said.
“Oberstown Children Detention Campus estimated that around 40% of detained children either had a care background or were known to Tusla. That’s despite children in care making up less than an estimated 1% of the child population.
“This stark over-representation must be examined especially in relation to charges on damage to property in their care placement.”
Special Emergency Arrangements are used as a short-term measure for vulnerable children when no other regular care setting is available. Designed to be for the short-term, SEAs can be in often in hotels or B&Bs, as well as apartments or houses. While staffed and supervised, they are unregulated.
The OCO also drew a comparison between how such situations might be dealt with in a family home, and in some care settings.
“Children who have already experienced trauma should not be treated as criminals for behaviour that would likely be handled with care, support or understanding in any other family home.
“Criminalising these children for property damage entrenches stigma, undermines their rights, and fails in the State’s duty of care. It should not be allowed to happen.
Children in care deserve protection, compassion and accountability rooted in support – not prosecution.
A private provider of residential care beds told The Journal Investigates: “I would not condone my staff if they are using gardai as an on-call service. That is completely inappropriate.”
The provider said changes were taking place in the system around improving care options, but that Special Emergency Arrangements are still in use.
Tusla’s most recent quarterly report, covering the period from July to September last year, showed that while 86% of children in care are in foster care, just over 10%, or 598 children, were in residential care, which includes special care placements, and another 222 children were in other care placements, which includes Special Emergency Arrangements (SEAs).
The use of unregulated SEAs costs Tusla tens of millions of euro, mostly paid to private providers.
The provider of private residential care who spoke to our team said that while stays in hotels and B&Bs tend to be short, SEAs in houses can continue “for an extended period”. They also said recruitment for residential care is “extremely challenging” but they disagreed with the suggestion that the job is more difficult than it used to be.
“There is a perception that children are coming in and staff are getting battered 24/7,” they said, adding that “the toughest kid I ever worked with in Ireland, I had him in 2002.”
Another person working in a senior position in the residential care system, speaking anonymously, said the cost of insurance may also be a factor in whether some cases or property damage are reported to gardaí, alongside related issue like rising premiums and a limited choice of provider.
They said they believe that in some circumstances staff in some settings “panic, and the first port of call is the guards if a child is out of control”.
Insurance Ireland, the body which represents the insurance industry, said: “Where a damage claim may involve a criminal offence, insurers are required to have confirmation that the matter has been reported to An Garda Síochána. This is a standard requirement across the insurance system and cannot be waived on a discretionary basis.”
Given the high number of cases of property damage, it seems most are not reported to gardaí, but advocates for young people in care believe it should always be a last resort.
Wayne Stanley, chief executive officer for EPIC [Empowering People In Care], said: “If you go into any care facility, even into special care or even into Oberstown [not a care facility, but a juvenile detention facility], one of the things that will strike you as a lay person, as you go in there, is that you are dealing with children – and you can’t ever lose sight of that.”
Tanya Ward, chief executive of the Children’s Rights Alliance, said one issue seemed to be a lack of high support or step-down facilities for young people who are leaving special care or who are not in special care but experiencing acute difficulties.
“There is a question of suitability – maybe some service providers are not right for some young people who are maybe deep in addiction, might have a dual diagnosis, haven’t been diagnosed by the health system, might be exploited by criminals out there, and the help needs to be there.”
She said de-escalation of any volatile situation was key.
Separately, Tusla began recording Significant Event Notifications for young people seeking international protection in 2024.
Figures show that four incidents of property damage resulted in gardaí being called in 2024, and another three cases were reported to gardaí in the first six months of last year.
However, again there is no record as to the extent to which those young people were brought before the courts.
According to Tusla’s latest figures, for the first week of this year, 44 children and young people in mainstream services were in special emergency arrangements (SEAs) – 39 in privately leased properties, four in Tusla properties and one young person placed in a hotel by the National Out of Hours Service (NOHS).
At the end of the same week there were 109 children and young people in the Service for Separated Children Seeking International Protection also placed in SEAs, all in privately leased properties.
Tusla told The Journal Investigates that any SEA placement was for “the shortest period possible” and added that it “continues to exhaust all avenues to increase the capacity of residential care and has been actively investing in efforts to expand residential care capacity to meet growing needs and further reduce our reliance on SEAs”.
As for criminal damage in SEAs, Tusla said details were held on individual case files but added that “broader metrics in this area are currently under review as part of ongoing work to strengthen our data and reporting capabilities”.
The Journal Investigates
Reporter: Noel Baker • Editor: Sinead O’Carroll • Social Media: Cliodhna Travers • Main Image Design: Lorcan O’Reilly
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