Social Affairs

12 separated children still missing from state care, as minister admits ‘error’ in RTÉ interview

In July, the Business Post revealed that 15 separated children were still unaccounted for. Roderic O’Gorman erroneously refuted this figure

Roderic O’Gorman, Minister for Children: “There was an error in the briefing provided to the Minister prior to the interview. Following the interview and after being made aware of the error, he spoke to his officials and to Tusla.” Picture: Fergal Phillips

Twelve separated children remain missing from state care, contradicting comments made by the Minister for Children last month that only two children were still unaccounted for.

However, Roderic O’Gorman has admitted that there was an “error” in the briefing given to him by his officials, which led him to refute on national radio the number of separated children revealed by this newspaper as still missing from state care.

On July 23, the Business Post revealed that 15 separated children had gone missing from state care and were still unaccounted for, according to official data from Tusla, the child and family agency.