Internal documents raise concern about children in care having to share bedrooms
Many children in State care are living in overcrowded emergency accommodation, leaving some at risk of being abused as a result of having to share bedrooms with others, according to internal
Internal Tusla documents reveal cases of children in the emergency accommodation contracting scabies and living in rooms with bed bugs. Others were accommodated in isolated locations away from their communities, leaving children facing commutes to schools of up to five hours a day in one case. Two-thirds of the children in the arrangements are underage asylum seekers who arrived in the country without guardians, known as unaccompanied minors. In an August 28th, 2023 email, a high-ranking Tusla official raised concerns about “systemic” problems with emergency accommodation for this vulnerable cohort.
The high numbers of children living in some properties meant it was difficult to manage “contagious infectious diseases”. There had been instances of young people contracting scabies, “with some cases recurring over extended periods of time”, as well as reports of bed bugs, noted the email.