Twelve children were murdered while in or known to child protection services
Peadar Toibin said: "Children under the care of the State, or for whom concerns have been reported to the State, should not be dying at such a colossal rate from suicide, murder and drug overdose." Photo: Collins
There have been 12 children either under State care or known to child protection services who have been murdered over the last decade.
Tusla has confirmed to Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín through a parliamentary question that it has reported the murders of the 11 children, known to the State's child protection services, along with one child in State care over the past 10 years.
Last week, Aontú released data obtained from Tusla which showed that almost half of the 42 children who died while in State care over the past decade had died by suicide or drug overdose.
Of the 164 children who died at a time when they were known to child protection services during the same period, 11 (7%) died by suspected homicide. Furthermore, 46 adults who had been in previous care of the State or were identified as at-risk have died by suicide since 2014.
Mr Tóibín is meeting with Tusla in the coming weeks to raise the issue. He said he is concerned that vulnerable children are "falling through the cracks".
"This issue of children being murdered while known to child protection services warrants a full and thorough discussion and debate in the Dáil chamber," Mr Tóibín told the .
"The past week in the Dáil was an emotional one for our country as we learned details of the Grace case.
"This week we're also dealing with issues of compensating people who suffered abuse in Mother and Baby Homes when they were children.
"How can we possibly deal with the issues of the past unless we have utmost transparency and robust parliamentary discussion about the children who are dying under the care or the eye of the State today?"
The Aontú leader has called for an independent body to examine all of these children's cases.
"We need comparative analysis with other countries to ensure that we are doing the best by our children," he said.
"Children under the care of the State, or for whom concerns have been reported to the State, should not be dying at such a colossal rate from suicide, murder and drug overdose.
This is a crisis of enormous human proportions. Alarm bells need to be sounded now. I will be raising this issue with the Taoiseach at the next available opportunity in the Dáil."
