THIRTEEN PEOPLE WHO were taken into Tusla’s care upon arrival in Ireland have been found to be adults, while the age of 15 more young people remains disputed, since immigration services took over age assessments in June. 

The Department of Justice has released statistics that show since 12 June, 36 people who presented as unaccompanied minors to Irish authorities have undergone age assessment interviews. 

Of these, just eight were accepted as minors. Those who are of a disputed age remain in accommodation provided by Tusla, the child and family agency, chiefly via a third party private company contracted by the state. 

Officers within the immigration service in the Department of Justice have taken over the responsibility of assessing the ages of people who present as unaccompanied minors and seek international protection in Ireland, since new EU asylum rules came into effect. 

Previously children were assessed by Tusla, but the agency repeatedly stressed that work to determine the age of young people within their services should be done by an external body. 

A source within children’s services told The Journal that children of a disputed age are being moved to separate ‘age disputed minors’ houses while their assessment and any accompanying appeals process is ongoing. 

The source said that while it appeared that Tusla in some cases waited for children to “age out” of care services in cases where their age was disputed, since June there is now a new process in place which sees these children moved to separate accommodation. 

They added that this is happening more efficiently when it comes to boys, whereas issues with girls of a disputed age remaining in shared rooms in Tusla contracted accommodation.

Tusla told The Journal that separate accommodation for children whose ages are disputed is available for both boys and girls. 

A Department of Justice spokesperson said that authorised officers in the Department of Justice who have undergone “significant training” through the European Union Agency for Asylum and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees are carrying out age assessment interviews with young people who claim to be minors. 

They added that this includes a health assessment and a vulnerability assessment, and that they are carried out in the presence of a child representative and a legal representative where one is asked for. 

A private company called AllPro Services – a facility management firm which has provided accommodation for IPAS applicants to the State in the past – has been awarded the contract by the state to act as child representatives for unaccompanied minors. 

The Children’s Rights Alliance has complained to the Oireachtas Justice Committee about the firm getting the contract, as chief executive Tanya Ward said that the company had not “demonstrated expertise of the legal processes involved in international protection or child care systems to the role of the representative service for unaccompanied children”. 

It’s understood that organisations who work in the refugee and children’s rights space, including the Irish Refugee Council, had put in bids for the contract. 

Ward stressed that the CRA had expected that an organisation with a track record of working with children would get the contract.

Gary Gannon TD, Justice spokesperson for the Social Democrats, told The Journal that these figures show that there is a need for a “proper and independent system for assessing age”. 

He added that the consequences of the State getting an assessment wrong are “enormous”, as if someone who is a child is deemed to be an adult they can lose access to the care and protections we have in place for vulnerable children “arriving here alone”. 

Gannon said he remains concerned that the Government has outsourced the representative service for these children to a “commercial facilities’ management company”. 

“Fifteen of the first 36 cases are still disputed. These are not straightforward decisions. Where there is real doubt about someone’s age, a starting point should be to protect the child while that question is resolved,” he added. 

Child representatives are responsible for responding when young people arrive at Irish ports and airports.

It’s understood that these representatives are now assisting children in Tulsa-contracted accommodation in travelling to Citywest for international protection application processes and age assessment interviews.