Serious concerns for the safety of vulnerable children in unregulated Tusla placements have escalated since the killing of a Ukrainian teenager last year, the health watchdog Hiqa has warned.
Days after the death of Vadym Davydenko (17) in an unregistered placement in October, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) received “unsolicited” reports of children being hungry, feeling unsafe and living in unstable placements with “poor staffing levels”.
In a strongly worded letter to Tusla, released to The Irish Times under Freedom of Information legislation, Hiqa said its long-standing concerns about children in such placements, known as special emergency arrangements (SEAs), had increased.
SEAs are not registered, regulated or inspected by Hiqa. They are privately operated for profit and housed in rented apartments, Airbnb lets or hotel rooms.
READ MORE
Last year Tusla paid €57.2 million to private businesses for SEAs to accommodate more than 1,000 vulnerable children. Their use has been called a “national scandal” by District Court judge Conor Fottrell.
The Ombudsman for Children’s Office and social workers have questioned their legality and described them as unsuitable and even harmful for vulnerable children.
In a letter to Hiqa last November Tusla conceded SEAs were “not premised on a legal footing”.
Davydenko (17) was killed in a knife attack involving another young person accommodated in the SEA they shared, on October 15th, 2025. Davydenko had been in Ireland less than a week.
[ Ukrainians in Dublin mourn teenager Vadym Davydenko at Orthodox memorial serviceOpens in new window ]
Days after his death, Hiqa received reports about conditions in SEAs, particularly those accommodating child asylum seekers. These are overseen by a division within Tusla known as the separated children seeking international protection (SCSIP) service.
In its October 30th, 2025 letter, Hiqa told Tusla reports had come in “that there is poor staffing levels in SEAs, that children are sharing bedrooms, are hungry on occasions, do not have appropriate activities and do not feel safe”.
And “that there is no oversight of children placed in SEAs due to the absence of visits by the SCSIP team”.
This “further raised our concerns ... particularly in the light of the recent tragic incident that occurred on a SEA where a young person was fatally injured”.
Hiqa reminds Tusla in the letter: “The SCSIP service was previously an escalated service [meaning Hiqa had escalated its concerns to senior Tusla management] and actions to address significant deficits have continually not been reached with specific time frames.”
Specifically “it was found that monitoring and oversight systems ... were not effective”.
In its written response, dated November 12th, 2025, Tusla said SEAs are “all funded for the provision of appropriate food and snacks”.
“That young people are complaining of being hungry and [of] poor food choices is unacceptable and has been addressed,” said Tusla. “This will be kept under review”.
Staffing levels in SEAs had been doubled at night “as some children are sharing bedrooms” and a schedule had “now been agreed” to ensure children in SEAs were being visited “regularly and their views ascertained”.
It continued: “Tusla along with the SCSIP services have long been committed to the phasing out of the placement of children in SEAs which are not premised on a legal footing.”
In later correspondence Tusla confirmed it was not checking on children in SEAs in hotels.
“I can confirm that [Tusla] complete monitoring visits to rented premises and Airbnbs in both community and SCSIP special emergency arrangements,” said Gerry Hone, Tusla’s national director of services and integration.
“Hotels tend to be used for the shortest periods possible, for example most to the SCSIP placements in hotels are for a maximum of one week,” he said in a letter dated December 12th, 2025.
“As such, visits to hotels have not been completed,” he told Eva Boyle, Hiqa’s children’s services head of programme.
