Accommodation fears for older teens entering care system for first time  

Tusla CEO Kate Duggan warned that the child and family agency is seeing a 'significant increase' in the number of 16- to 18-year-olds entering care who had never previously been in the care system. File picture: Brian Farrell

More than one tenth of children and young people entering State care for the first time are aged between 16 and 18 years old, prompting fears over a lack of suitable accommodation for these older teens.

Tusla, the child and family agency, revealed to the Irish Examiner that 31 of the 271 young people admitted to State care from January 1 to September 10 this year were aged 16 and over.