Children’s Ombudsman and Tusla chief to address seminar on our most vulnerable children

Tusla chief Kate Duggan and Children’s Ombudsman Niall Muldoon will take part in a panel on child protection, welfare, and alternative care as part of End Child Poverty Week. Picture: iStock

The head of Tusla and the Children’s Ombudsman will be keynote speakers at an seminar on vulnerable children in an event being organised to mark End Child Poverty Week.

Tusla chief executive Kate Duggan and Children’s Ombudsman Niall Muldoon have been announced as part of a panel which will discuss child protection, welfare, and alternative care at the event at the Aisling Hotel in Dublin next Monday, September 15.

They will be joined by Lara Hynes, the assistant secretary with responsibility for Child Policy and Tusla Governance Division at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality.

Also speaking on why children in care need to be prioritised in Budget 2026 will be the Children’s Rights Alliance’s child protection and alternative care co-ordinator Maria Corbett, and Barnardos chief executive Suzanne Connolly.

The event is being planned as investigations continue into the disappearance of a boy four years ago and the murder of Kyran Durnin in Louth, who was last seen in 2022.

The seminar will be the closing event of a series of events organised by the Children’s Rights Alliance for its fourth End Child Poverty Week.

The week’s events get underway today, Monday September 8, with an event focused on early years education. The in-person event will take place in YMCA in Dublin 2, and will hear calls for the Government to prioritise investment in early years education to help break the cycle of poverty.

The findings of a survey of community providers of early years education will be shared during the event, which will be chaired by Teresa Heeney, the chief executive of Early Childhood Ireland.

The Children’s Rights Alliance says the aim of the week is “to place a spotlight on child poverty and its impact on children, young people, and families ahead of budget day”.

Thematic areas of child poverty — including early years, child protection and welfare, education, income and food poverty — will be highlighted during the week.

In June, the alliance called for child protection and alternative care to be a top priority for the Government ahead of its first budget next month.

The alliance wants an additional €50m to be provided in Budget 2026 to provide investment in core child protection and welfare services.

This week’s End Child Poverty Week events take place as Tusla agreed to undertake a “wellbeing check” on all cases closed by the agency, in particular on cases of children that were closed during covid-19.

It also follows criticism last Thursday night by the Children’s Ombudsman of the handling of the cases of the boy missing from Donabate and Kyran Durnin, particularly the decision to refer the most recent case to the National Review Panel which still has not issued its report on the Durnin case.