Donegal tops child welfare referrals as Tusla staffing pressures persist

Donegal continues to have the highest rate of child protection and welfare referrals in the West North West Region. 

In the period between January and August 2025 referrals made to the Donegal area were 26% of all referrals in the region, with the highest number of referrals being 31% in January 2025. 

A Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) report said that this reflects the trend in the increase in referrals to the service over the past number of years. 

The referral rate increased by 15.4% from 2020 to 2024 based on full year data while Donegal also had the highest increase in referral rates in the country in 2024.

While Tusla - Child and Family Agency has made significant improvements in Donegal, the service in the county remains inadequately staffed.

HIQA, on foot of a monitoring inspection in September 2025 to assess the progress made in addressing non-compliances, noted that the service is continuing to be met with challenges.

HIQA noted that the service has challenges “in replacing critical roles and did not have a sufficient number of qualified social workers with the required skills and experience”.

HIQA said: “Some children were on a waiting list for a service at the time of the inspection; however, good management of available staff resources did ensure that these children were safeguarded.

“Further improvements to the service were required to ensure that all child protection and welfare assessments were commenced and all required notifications to An Garda Síochána were made without delay. Appropriate assurances were provided by the service, and HIQA will continue to monitor the service to support improvements.”

HIQA assessed the service against five national standards during this inspection and found that the service was compliant with two standards and substantially compliant with three standards.

In 2024, Tusla submitted a national compliance plan to HIQA, which outlined how it would improve services where there were significant numbers of children waiting for a service.

“Overall, there was good governance and oversight of the Donegal service at all management levels,” HIQA reported. “The service had effectively responded to and addressed the significant governance and oversight concerns identified during the May 2024 inspection. Children received a child protection and welfare service which had consistent and effective leadership, governance and oversight arrangements in place.

“There was significant improvement in the quality and safety of the child protection and welfare service to ensure that it met the needs of all children, in line with the National Standards for Child Protection and Welfare (2012) and Children First: National Guidance for Child Protection and Welfare (2017). 

“The service area had taken appropriate action to address the significant risks escalated following the previous inspection. The duty social work system in place at the front door of the service was effective in safeguarding children, oversight by managers was good, and all children on the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS) had an allocated social worker.”

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Last year, it emerged that reports were delayed in being assessed by social workers because of “intractable” staffing problems and “burnout” among staff. 

Shortages in certain areas meant that a large waiting list built up that required “immediate” action. 

That internal review said that some cases had not been allocated to social workers due to “persistent staffing difficulties” and said staff in Donegal were “constantly worrying about which member of their team would leave next”.

The same review found that 79 cases were passed between different parts of the Tusla service before going onto a waiting list. In these cases, there was no planning to ensure that the home environment for these children was safer in the intervening period.

Tusla - Child and Family Agency said it welcomed the HIQA inspection report.

Marie Crawley, Area Manager Donegal, Tusla said: “We were very pleased with the content of the report which reflects the significant and ongoing progress being made in the quality of the service being delivered across our Child Protection and Welfare service in Donegal. 

“All the system risks identified in the 2024 inspection have been comprehensively addressed and children and families in Donegal can be assured that they are in receipt of a quality service, with child safety at its core. This inspection report is a reflection of the commitment, dedication and child-focused approach of our teams across the county.”

A statement from Tusla - Child and Family Agency added: “The report found some areas where improvements were required such as staffing capacity issues, impacting the timely screening of referrals. However, the report notes that all children had safety plans in place that were monitored and there was good management oversight of the waiting list for support. 

“Tusla receives consistent and high-quality regulation and oversight, by various external bodies including HIQA. This oversight assists us in ensuring that our practices deliver good quality, timely and appropriate interventions and services for children and families.”

HIQA said that one of the changing features of Donegal over the past number of years is the “significant increase” in Ukrainian and International Protection Accommodation Services (IPAS) populations. 

The report said: “This is an added challenge to service provision given the traumatic experiences of many of these children before arriving in Donegal. 

“There is also a lack of approved translators within the county and the lack of extended family networks of support for children and young people within these populations.”

As at August 2025 there were approximately 1500 Ukrainian children, who are beneficiaries of temporary protection, enrolled in schools in Donegal. There were also over 900 children living in IPAS accommodation across Donegal.”