#child-asylum-seekers

#child-asylum-seekers

Tusla told the Public Accounts Committee that 293 child asylum seekers were referred but later found to be adults, experiencing significant delays in eligibility assessments.

The board employs more than 50 social workers to conduct the assessments, but some children have said they are out to get them. The report finds that in some cases the process has led to children's deteriorating mental health, including self-harm and suicidal ideation, and that going through a Home Office age assessment is far more severe and traumatic than a comparable experience with a local authority social worker.