Advocacy group working to prevent child trafficking seeks meeting with children's minister

Tusla said 24 reports of suspected sexual exploitation of children in care were made to gardaí last year. File picture: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire

An organisation working to prevent children being trafficked is seeking a meeting with the new minister for children to discuss the issue.

The meeting is being sought by Mercy Efforts for Child Protection against Trafficking with the Hospitality and Services Sectors, known as Mecpaths, as Tusla said 24 reports of suspected sexual exploitation of children in care were made to gardaí last year. 

The only non-profit in the Republic which aims to prevent the trafficking of children said: “This does not include reports for cases that are ongoing since 2023, when 55 cases were reported.” 

It follows coverage in the Irish Examiner of Children's Minister Norma Foley’s response to a parliamentary question in relation to children who go missing in State care. She revealed the end of January showed 36 children in the Irish care system were missing. 

They included 33 children categorised as "separated children seeking international protection" and unaccompanied minors, and three missing from “mainstream care”.

Ms Foley said of those 36, five had been missing for between one and three days, meaning 31 were missing for a longer period.

She said information on whether children missing from care are suspected to be victims of, or at risk of, sexual exploitation is located on individual case files and is not collated centrally by Tusla.

JP O’Sullivan of Mecpaths said the reply given by Ms Foley seemed positive.

“It is the first time that we have seen any willingness from this department to talk about the issue and we hope Minister Foley might at least be open to having a conversation about it.” 

Mecpaths holds training across the country with hospitality providers and other sectors to raise awareness of the trafficking of children. It launched a network of concerned professionals across the country to respond to child trafficking last November. The organisation is now awaiting a response from Ms Foley’s office to its request for a meeting.

Last month, the Irish Examiner revealed 137 children who have gone missing since 1977 remain missing. They included children in State care.

A joint protocol is in place which requires Tusla to notify gardaí when a young person in care is deemed missing.

In June 2023, the Protecting Against Predators report published by the Sexual Exploitation Research Project highlighted children and young people in State care in Ireland were being targeted in an orchestrated manner for sexual exploitation and are being taxied to hotels around the country.

Researchers interviewed staff from 14 key agencies working with vulnerable children and found trafficking and sexual exploitation of teenagers was a common feature, particularly among children in residential care settings.

A spokeswoman for Tusla said: "Tusla is acutely aware of and shares the State’s concerns regarding the increased risk of child and human trafficking or exploitation of vulnerable young people, particularly in the context of the increased global movement of people. 

"In 2020 Tusla, in consultation with An Garda Síchána, developed the Child Sexual Exploitation Procedure (implemented from early 2021). This assists professionals in identifying and protecting children who may be at risk of sexual exploitation."

Meanwhile, Care Day will be marked across the country on Friday by organisations working with children in care. 

Care leavers from across the UK established Care Day in 2016 and it has since expanded to Ireland, where children in care and young care-leaver rights organisation Epic spearheads the campaign.

The aim of the initiative is to celebrate the positive experiences and contributions of children and young people with care experience.