A Dublin District Court has heard that a male asylum seeker will remain in a children’s facility while Tusla believes he is an adult. The age inquiry, due to begin on Tuesday, was adjourned after he could not be brought to court, and the judge extended the interim care order for a further 28 days. The word Tusla was central throughout the hearing as the agency pressed for an urgent resolution.
Court hears of urgent Tusla application
Deirdre Lynch, acting for the asylum seeker, told Judge Vincent Deane that “he needs to be present” to instruct her through an interpreter and to follow the proceedings properly. She said her instructing solicitor had contacted the facility on Friday to ask that he be brought to court on Tuesday, but the message was not received until Monday, leaving too little notice for the authorities responsible for transport.
Counsel for Tusla said the matter was “a really urgent application” and told the court the young person was “placed in a children’s facility in circumstances where the agency has deemed him ineligible for services”. Tusla had applied on March 19th for an inquiry under the Childcare Act, 1991, into the age of the young person, who arrived in Ireland as an unaccompanied asylum seeker last year.
What the judge set out
Under section 32 of the Act, the court is required to make due inquiry into the age of the person before it. The age decided by the court is treated as the true age unless the contrary is proved. Tusla said in March that it planned to call “six or seven” witnesses, including some from outside the jurisdiction, and that it would need weeks to organise them.
When it became clear the inquiry could not proceed on Tuesday, Tusla’s counsel said that was “most unfortunate” because witnesses “from a number of jurisdictions” were ready. He also agreed that whatever the outcome, the findings should be “robust” and not open to challenge. The judge then set two days for the age inquiry, beginning on June 3rd.
Reaction in court and wider Tusla pressure
The hearing came as Tusla faces growing pressure over children’s care arrangements more broadly. In a separate development, Taoiseach Micheál Martin described as “extremely disturbing” and “unacceptable” the forging of references for staff at unregulated children’s care homes, while Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the disclosures highlighted “shocking State failings in respect of children in care”. Mary Lou McDonald said forged references for staff in emergency accommodation put vulnerable children “in harm’s way”.
Martin said the Government takes the matter with “the utmost seriousness” and pointed to “huge investment in structural reform” and efforts to eliminate inappropriate placements. He also said demand for Tusla services has more than doubled since 2014, with 106, 000 children referred to the agency last year, a 10 per cent increase on the year before.
What happens next
The immediate next step is the age inquiry scheduled for June 3rd, with the young person remaining under an interim care order in the meantime. The case will test the evidence around his age and the placement that has kept him in a children’s facility despite Tusla’s view that he is an adult. For now, Tusla remains at the center of the court timetable and the wider debate over children’s care.
