The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) expresses deep concern at the issues highlighted in recent RTÉ reports on Special Emergency Arrangements (SEAs) for children in State care, and calls for urgent, system-wide action to ensure that every child in the care of the State is safe, protected and supported to thrive.

“This is not a new crisis”

“This is not a new crisis the IASW has been raising this issue for a number of years a Round Table discussion occurred as early as 2024 to explore the challenges around special emergency arrangements with relevant stakeholders. The children who are placed in many of these arrangements are at best not receiving the therapeutic care they so badly need in order to grow and develop and at worst at risk of harm and further trauma.” Said COO Caroline Strong

The RTÉ coverage confirms what social workers, Guardians ad Litem, foster carers, advocates and the Courts have been raising for a number of years: the growing reliance on SEAs is a symptom of a system under severe strain, not a sudden or isolated problem. The IASW and its members have consistently warned that SEAs, originally intended as short-term, exceptional measures, have become embedded as a common feature of care provision, often in unregulated, ad hoc settings that may place children at risk rather than meeting their needs.

The IASW Round Table paper to the Department of the Taoiseach in October 2024 documented widespread concern about fabricated pre-employment checks, inadequate vetting and qualifications, and the use of rented holiday homes, short-term lets and even hotel rooms as SEA placements for children with high and complex needs. Contributors to that report were clear: the growing use of SEAs stems from chronic shortages of foster placements, regulated residential places, social workers and social care staff, and cannot be resolved by any single agency acting alone.

Round Table warnings on SEAs

At the 2024 IASW-convened Round Table, attended by key stakeholders including EPIC, IFCA, Tusla, the HSE, academics and members of the judiciary, there was strong consensus that the unregulated nature of SEAs “cannot continue” and that urgent measures are needed to safeguard children currently placed in these arrangements. Participants called for immediate inspection of SEAs by Tusla inspectors, weekly oversight, strict verification of staff qualifications and Garda clearance, and for HIQA to assume responsibility for inspection of SEAs and all voluntary/for-profit residential services as a matter of urgency.

The Round Table also stressed that SEAs are being used because no suitable foster carer or registered residential placement is available, and that without decisive action the lack of appropriate placements risks “a domino effect that risks collapsing the care system.” The IASW reiterates that children in State care must not bear the cost of systemic failures; they have a constitutional right under Article 42A to care, protection and the vindication of their welfare, and a right under Article 12 of the UNCRC to have their voices heard in decisions that affect them.

Alternative Care Framework: chance to change course

In the IASW recent submission to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality on the development of a National Policy Framework for Alternative Care, they emphasised that SEAs, as they currently operate, are “often unregulated, inadequately overseen, and unsafe” and are a visible symptom of wider deficits in the care system. We recommended that any Alternative Care Framework must child centred, trauma-informed, evidence-based and underpinned by robust, formalised interagency working across Tusla, the HSE, education, justice, housing and other key sectors.

The submission calls for mandatory therapeutic assessment for every child entering care, strong governance and oversight structures, national data monitoring, and a move away from for‑profit residential models with little therapeutic input and poor qualified-to-unqualified staff ratios. The IASW highlighted the need for bespoke placement planning at local and regional level, investment in early intervention and family support to prevent care entry where safe, and strengthened supports and conditions for foster carers so that fewer children are forced into emergency and unsuitable arrangements.

Call for immediate and long-term action

The IASW is calling for the following immediate steps:

• Immediate, regular inspection of all SEAs, with HIQA mandated, without delay, to develop and apply minimum quality standards, and to assume full inspection responsibility for SEAs and all non-statutory residential services.​
• Centralised, ongoing verification by Tusla of Garda clearance and qualifications for all staff working in SEAs, and clear enforcement where standards are not met.​
• Urgent cross-government action, with a statutory interdepartmental mechanism, to ensure joined-up planning and accountability for children in State care.

Alongside these urgent safeguards, we are calling on Government to fully incorporate IASW recommendations into the Alternative Care Framework: significant investment in early intervention and community-based family supports, enhanced supports and financial recognition for foster carers, priority access to housing, health, education and life-skills supports for young people leaving care and improved pay, conditions and career pathways for social workers that support and encourage retention of social workers in this challenging work.

Social workers stand ready to work with Government, Tusla, the HSE, the judiciary, advocacy organisations, carers and, crucially, children and young people themselves, to build a safe, sustainable care system that no longer relies on unsafe emergency arrangements. The RTÉ reports must be a turning point; children in the care of the State cannot wait any longer for the protections and supports to which they are entitled.