The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published an inspection report on a children’s residential centre operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Mid-West service area.

HIQA conducted this unannounced inspection over a two-day period in June 2025. The inspection focused on the safeguarding of children within the children’s residential centre. Children’s rights and the quality of care provided was also a key focus of the inspection. Of the seven standards assessed, three standards were compliant, one standard was substantially compliant and three standards were not compliant.

The centre had an established and clearly-defined management structure, and the staff and managers were accessible and available to young people. The centre’s purpose and function was to support young people to prepare for life after care, to build on their confidence and exercise their independence with the support of an experienced team. The staff team were committed to providing high standards of care, had received all necessary training to deliver safe and effective care and to be responsive to the safeguarding needs of young people living in the centre.

Young people’s rights were respected and they were supported and facilitated to be actively involved in decisions about their life. Care was individualised to young people’s specific safeguarding needs. While not all young people were satisfied with an independent living type of placement, the managers and staff in the centre had recognised this and responded by adapting individual programmes of care to be more relevant to the unique vulnerabilities of each young person.

Incidents were effectively managed and reviewed promptly and there was a clear focus on identifying supports for young people to address their individual safeguarding needs. However, improvements were required in relation to the identification of child protection concerns, specifically relating to indicators of child exploitation among young people. HIQA found that not all child protection and welfare concerns had been reported to Tusla in line with the requirements of Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017), and this remained an ongoing area for improvement since the last inspection in 2023. In addition, some elements of governance at national level required improvement, including an update to the suite of national policies and procedures guiding staff practice in children’s residential centres.

Following the inspection, the provider submitted a satisfactory compliance plan to HIQA which outlined plans to address non-compliances identified during the inspection.

Note:

• HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality under Section 69 of the Child Care Act, 1991 as amended by Section 26 of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011, to inspect children’s residential care services provided by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla). HIQA monitors Tusla’s performance against the National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres and advises the Minister and Tusla.