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O’Flynn:  Tusla must come clean on €10m paid to fraud-tainted care company Independent Ireland Chairperson and TD for Cork North Central, Ken O’Flynn, has demanded immediate transparency from Tusla after it emerged that the agency paid over €10 million to a childcare company run by people now convicted of fraud and childcare offences. “Let’s call this what it is,” O’Flynn said. “Tusla paid millions of euro of public money to a company that fabricated Garda vetting and lied about staff qualifications. A judge described it as ‘the high water mark of criminality’. And all of this happened while vulnerable children were in their care. If that doesn’t shake public confidence, what will?” Between 2018 and 2023, Tusla engaged Ideal Care Ltd as a Special Emergency Arrangement provider. Court proceedings have since revealed the company falsified documents and references, with one director handed a suspended custodial sentence and the firm convicted under childcare law. “This is not just about one rogue company,” O’Flynn continued. “It is about Tusla’s oversight, its procurement processes, and its responsibility to the children of this State. How on earth were fake Garda vetting forms not flagged? Who signed off on this? And why are we only finding out now, after €10 million has gone out the door?” Deputy O’Flynn has tabled a series of Parliamentary Questions to the Ministers for Children, Justice, and Public Expenditure. He is demanding a full breakdown of payments made, clarity on when Tusla first knew about the convictions, details of children placed in the company’s care, and confirmation of disciplinary measures for those responsible inside Tusla. “The public deserves answers,” he said. “This isn’t just an isolated failure – it exposes a systemic vulnerability. If Tusla can’t guarantee that children in its care are being looked after by properly vetted professionals, then the entire system is compromised. That is the hard truth.” O’Flynn concluded with a warning: “Ireland has learned bitter lessons from past scandals. We said never again. Well, this is happening again – and on Tusla’s watch. Transparency and accountability are not optional here. Either Tusla comes clean and reforms, or public trust in child protection collapses.”

Gagged by extension of a transparency order! ⬇️ https://t.co/LsuYbknur9 I stand with my client—a remarkable woman subjected to reprehensible abuse. The court denied her the chance to get proper findings against her abuser and silenced her from challenging an ISW she believed was biased. The system failed her. She deserved justice. She got injustice.