Tusla chief seeks nationwide meetings with foster carers as numbers continue to fall

Tusla CEO Kate Duggan. File Picture:

Tusla’s CEO is inviting foster carers all over the country to meet with her in a bid to strengthen support for them as the number of carers continues to decline.

Letters sent to around 5,000 carers around the country in the past month said: “The CEO would love the opportunity to meet with you in the coming weeks and months”.

It continued: “This will be an opportunity to tell you more about the changes we are making in Tusla as part of our Integrated Reform Programme, and to hear from you about the challenges we need to address, to ensure you and the children in your care feel better supported.

“We would be very grateful if you could please respond to this short survey to advise of your interest in participating in the sessions being planned”.

Figures released to the Irish Examiner show the number of foster carers fell from 4,384 in 2017 to 3,941 in January 2023 despite a rise in the number of children that needed to be taken into care.

There are now around 5,000 foster carers in the country, as more incentives have been provided to support them including a rise in the fostering payments.

Foster care payments in Ireland rose significantly following Budget 2024 and 2025, reaching a weekly rate of €400 for children under 12 and €425 for those aged 12 and over as of late 2024.

This 21% increase is part of a broader support package, which included a double allowance payment in late 2024 and introduces a new initial placement bonus in 2025.

However, the number of children going into care continues to rise as social workers battle to cope with a growing number of referrals.

There are around 6,000 children in the care of the state – a system that has made repeated negative headlines over the past year.

There are currently two children who died who were known to state services: Daniel Aruebose and Kyran Durnin. Both cases have caused outrage all over the country.

'Missing from foster care' cases

Between 2020 and September 2025, there were nearly 7,000 "missing from care" reports involving children in Tusla-run homes.

By mid-September 2025, there were 866 reports, involving 61 individual children.

In February 2025, 36 children were reported missing, 33 of whom were Separated Children Seeking International Protection.

A small number of children account for a high volume of reports. For example, one child was reported missing 274 times in a single year. In 2024, 19 young people were reported missing more than 10 times.

"Missing from care" includes any case where a child's whereabouts is unknown for 15 minutes or longer, or if they fail to return to their placement.

The agency’s CEO Kate Duggan has written to foster carers inviting them to meet with her and a Tusla spokesperson said she has “planned engagements across the country from this month, to meet directly with foster carers, to hear about their experiences and their views on how we can continue to strengthen supports to them and to the children and young people who they open their homes to".

The statement added that the meeting will “help shape the way in which Tusla delivers services and continuously improves.

“Our last Strategic Plan for Foster Care was shaped by foster carers and resulted in many service improvements, including an increase in the Fostering Allowance, additional financial supports, new induction and training programmes for foster carers".