The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) has today published two reports on children’s residential centres operated by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) in the Dublin North East area and in the Dublin Mid Leinster area.



HIQA is authorised by the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth 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 Tusla. HIQA monitors Tusla’s performance against the National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres and advises the Minister and Tusla.



Inspection 1



HIQA conducted this unannounced inspection over a two day period in May 2023. This inspection was a routine inspection to monitor the quality of the service and the level of compliance with the national standards. The inspection assessed nine of the national standards, of which all were assessed as compliant. 



The centre actively promoted young people’s rights, and recognised their individual needs and strengths which led to the delivery of a high standard of child-centred care. Young people’s safety and wellbeing was prioritised by the service and staff worked in partnership with families, social workers, other professionals and services to achieve this. The centre was well led and managed. Managers and staff were suitably skilled and experienced. They clearly understood their roles and responsibilities for keeping the young people safe, promoting their rights and meeting their individual needs. 

There was a positive approach to behaviours that challenged, and support given to the young people to manage their behaviours. Systems to review all incidents internally and adapt approaches to best support the young people were in place. The centre’s management actively promoted learning from incidents that informed the young people’s individual crisis management plans and their placement support plans. 

The centre had been implementing a national model of care. The centre improvement plan included embedding this model into care practice. There was good progress on this goal and young people and staff were using this model well. Key pieces of support work were completed with the young people, and the centre manager had good oversight of this model and its implementation. 

Inspection 2



HIQA conducted an unannounced inspection of this centre over two days in March 2023. This inspection was a routine inspection to monitor the quality of the service and the level of compliance with the national standards. Of the eight standards assessed, two standards were found to be non-compliant, one standard was substantially compliant and five standards were found to be compliant.

There were effective governance and management systems in place with clear lines of accountability to oversee care practices, policies and procedures to ensure consistent quality of care. However, there were areas for improvement which would further strengthen the governance of the service. 



Young people experienced care and support which respected their diversity and promoted their rights. They were encouraged and supported to exercise choice and had opportunities to contribute to decisions made about their care and support. Young people were also assisted and supported to develop knowledge, self-awareness understanding and skills needed for self-care and protection. Young people, parents and professionals spoke positively about the good and trusting relationships built with staff and managers. While staff were proactive in advocating for young people and seeking support for them, not all young people had an allocated social worker.



Areas that required improvement included monitoring and oversight mechanisms to ensure the delivery of care was safe and effective and the identification and reporting of child protection concerns in line with Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children (2017). In addition, the centre did not provide an annual review of compliance with the service’s objectives as required.



Following the inspection, management submitted a satisfactory compliance plan to address the two standards deemed non-compliant and one standard deemed substantially compliant. 



The inspection reports and compliance plans can be found at the link below.