Failings of care found in deaths of children

Failures to respond swiftly and appropriately to children and families in crisis have been highlighted in a series of Tusla reviews into the deaths of children and young people known to child protection services.

Eight children and young people, the youngest just two weeks old, feature in the latest reviews which examine four suicides, one overdose, one accident and two deaths from natural causes. Those who died are given pseudonyms. They were:

• Clare, 15, had no allocated social worker from age 9-11 and became increasingly troubled from age 12 when a relative, who had helped foster her since she was two, died. She had four different placements between then and her death.