The Department of Public Expenditure has thrice rejected Tusla’s request for an increase in an allowance that is paid to staff working in the challenging area of special care detention, which is facing a staff retention crisis, the High Court has heard.
The child and family agency’s chief executive, Kate Duggan, told the court a business case was made to the Department in 2019 and again in 2020 for the €2,622 annual allowance – which is paid on top of employees’ regular salaries in recognition of the difficult nature of the work – to be increased to €5,000.
In 2023, after reviewing the allowance paid to similar workers in Oberstown youth detention centre, the agency asked the Department to increase the rate to €10,000 per year, the court heard. Ms Duggan said each of these requests were rejected.
Allowances and rates of pay across the sector cannot be sanctioned by the Department if contrary to public service pay policies.
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Children aged 12-17 who are particularly at risk can be detained in one of three special care centres on foot of a High Court order. The court heard only 15 of the 26 physical beds are operational due to a lack of staff.
The agency head appeared before the High Court’s Mr Justice John Jordan on Thursday in a review of the situations of five children in State care who have been determined to require detention in these specialist units but for whom there are no places available.
Mr Justice Jordan, who has made orders for their detention that have not been followed by Tusla, said the children are in “extraordinarily perilous situations” while left in unsecured residential placements in the community. The judge said he wanted to find out from Tusla and relevant Government departments called before the court where the solutions lie.
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Among these children is a seriously at-risk 14-year-old boy who has been missing from his placement for 11 days.
Tusla has been the subject of applications seeking to hold it in contempt of special care orders, following which there could be a request for Ms Duggan, as its representative, to be committed to prison. However, these have either become moot, due to the children getting places, or are not being actively pursued.
Speaking from the witness box on Thursday, Ms Duggan said Tusla has recruited 168 staff into special care since 2021, but 174 workers have left over the same period.
The recruitment and retention issues in special care are “multifactorial”, she said. The pay, which is set by public service agreements, and frequent violence, harassment and assaultive behaviour of some of the children in the units are significant factors, she said.
The young people in these centres have very complex needs, and some staff have stated in exit interviews that they felt they lacked some of the required skills, she said. Absenteeism is also high, as many working days are lost due to staff being off after serious assaults, the court heard.
Separate to special care, the agency has had to open about 20 residential centres for unaccompanied minors who seek protection in Ireland, particularly from Ukraine, she said. This works as a “pull” factor for some staff who view these young people as having fewer complex needs.
The court’s review continues.
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