Tusla chief warns over transfer of 200 minors from Calais

The head of the Child and Family Agency has warned that transferring 200 unaccompanied minors from Calais to Ireland in “one fell swoop” would present practical difficulties.

Tusla chief executive Fred McBride said while they had developed a “bank of experience” in dealing with unaccompanied minors over the past 15 years, it was more on the scale of 100 referrals a year rather than 200 overnight.

Some of the children had “very challenging issues” he said, and even though the proposal to accept children here from the French port town was well-intentioned, “there are some real challenges in trying to bring in so many at one time”, he said.