THE CHILD AND Family Agency, Tusla, handled the highest number of child protection referrals on record in 2024. 

Social workers dealt with 96,666 referrals last year, and that number is expected to exceed 100,000 in 2025. 

Referrals were up by 4,742 compared to 2023.

A team of 1,700 social workers dealt with the referrals, according to the agency’s annual report published today. 

The report acknowledges that Ireland is “not producing an adequate supply” of social workers and social care workers through third-level institutions to meet the existing and future requirements for the profession across public, private and voluntary sectors. 

143 new social workers were appointed in 2024, but the Chief Executive of the agency Kate Duggan has said that at least 500 new social workers need to be appointed annually in order to keep pace with the demands on the service. 

Child protection referrals see a screening process commenced by a social worker which determines if a child is at immediate risk of harm. 

The most common type of protection concern reported in 2024 was emotional abuse, which accounted for 45% of the referrals, followed by physical abuse at 25%, neglect at 15% and sexual abuse at 15%. 

The report notes that not only has the amount of referrals increased, but the complexity of the cases has increased too due to the the prolonged impact of Covid-19 isolation on children and families, and the combined impact of cost-of-living pressures and the housing crisis. 

The most common source of referrals was the gardaí, who made close to one third of the overall referrals, followed by safeguarding officers, social workers, and teachers.

Tusla’s annual report states that this increase in referrals has a “substantial impact” on duty teams and other front-line Tusla services, “particularly in an environment where there are shortages of social work and social care staff across the country”. 

In 2024 604 children were admitted to care for the first time, with 916 children being admitted overall. 

As of the end of 2024, 5,600 children were in Tusla’s care, and an additional 330 separated children seeking international protection were also in the agency’s care. 

Increase in non-statutory children’s centres 

The first new statutory children’s residential centre opened in 2024, a four-bedroom centre in Cavan, marking the first new centre to be brought into operation since 2017.  

However, there was a 20% increase in the number of non-statutory residential centres in 2024. 

At the end of 2023 164 non-statutory residential centres were registered with Tusla’s Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service. 

By the end of 2024 that figure had risen to 196. 

At the end of 2024 the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) expressed concerns about the number of children living in “unregulated accommodation”. 

In a ten-year review of these services, HIQA noted that many children living in these centres were not allocated a social worker. 

The authority’s Head of Programme for Children’s Services said that the review found that children as young as 10 years of age have been living in hotel rooms and rented accommodation on an emergency basis. 

Children who are coming into the country unaccompanied are amongst those living in these centres. 

There has been a rapid increase in separated children seeking international protection coming into Tusla’s care due to ongoing world conflicts. 

There were 619 referrals made to Tusla in respect of separated children, and 570 were taken into care or accommodated by Tusla during 2024, marking a 32% increase on 2023.

One third of these children came from Ukraine, while tho thirds arrived from other countries including Somalia, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Palestine, Syria, Zimbabwe and Pakistan. 

In response Tusla opened 20 new non-statutory residential centres.