Tusla dealt with 7,589 referrals in 2024 across Louth and Meath

Tusla, Child and Family Agency has today published its Annual Report for 2024, marking a decade of service and progress since its establishment in 2014, and included in its figures, it says that 7,589 referrals were made to Child, Protection and Welfare Services last year in Louth and Meath.

Tusla said that the report reflects a year of continued growth in demand for services, a significant programme of reform, record staff recruitment, and major advances in digital transformation to better support children, families, frontline, and support staff.

As well as its social workers in Louth and Meath dealing with 7,589 child protection and welfare referrals last year, nationally, this figure was 96,999, a 5% increase on 2023, and a 121.5% increase on the number of referrals recorded in Tusla’s first year (43,630 in 2014).

This equates to an average of more than 385 referrals every working day across Tusla’s six regions and 17 operational areas. Demand also increased in 2024 across education, family support, residential care and special care, and services for Separated Children Seeking International Protection (SCSIP).

2024 figures for Louth and Meath:  

• 7,589 referrals were made to Child, Protection and Welfare Services
• 418 children were in care, 367 of whom in foster care
• 63 children were taken into care, 37 for the first time
• 2,489 children were referred to Family Support Services
• 1810 cases were open to social work at the end of 2024
• 59 children were active on the Child Protection Notification System (CPNS)
• 302 foster carers on panel at end of 2024, including 15 newly approved carers
• 153 young people in aftercare 

Commenting on the Annual Report, Tusla Chairperson Pat Rabbitte said: “By almost every measure, the demand for Tusla’s services continues to grow – but so too does the Agency’s capacity, resolve and sense of mission. A decade on from its creation, Tusla has undergone a transformation.

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"While this journey remains incomplete, it has been marked by significant progress: the building of a national organisation, the strengthening of public trust, and a clearer vision for the future. Its greatest strength is its people—professionals who work every day with courage, empathy, and expertise to support and improve services for children and families in need.

 “Tusla’s Integrated Reform Programme is now at a pivotal point. This system-wide change is essential to delivering services that are more responsive, integrated, and accountable. Change is not easy, especially when it involves deep cultural change, but it is necessary. We are preparing the Agency to meet the increasingly complex challenges of today’s society. After ten years, Tusla has never been better equipped to deliver lasting change and better outcomes for children and families”, the Chairperson concluded.

Tusla said that the continued increase in referrals reflects both the rising pressures on families—including cost-of-living challenges, homelessness, domestic violence, addiction, and global displacement—as well as growing public and professional trust in Tusla as the Agency to whom concerns must be reported.

Eilidh MacNab, Regional Chief Officer Dublin North East for Tusla commented, “The demand we are seeing in Louth and Meath, as in all areas of Dublin North East and indeed the entire country, tell the story of a society in flux. As the needs of children and families change, so too must our response.

"We are facing into a future that demands faster coordination, deeper interagency collaboration, and a whole-of-government commitment to children’s safety and wellbeing. Child protection does not begin or end with Tusla – it is a shared responsibility that lives in our homes, schools, communities, and national policies”. 

“Our focus in 2024 has been on investing in the people and systems that drive change, from onboarding over 1,250 new staff nationally, to rolling out digital case management tools that give frontline professionals a fuller picture of a child’s needs. We are also making space for cultural change in our reform programme, building a workplace where staff feel valued, supported, and able to do their best work. Our mission remains constant: to protect children, support families, and help build a more inclusive, resilient, connected, and compassionate society”, she added.

In 2024, 1,258 new staff joined the Agency, including 143 new social workers through Tusla’s most successful graduate campaign to date, supported by a separate targeted campaign that offered employment to all final-year social work students. A new Social Work Apprenticeship Programme created 113 new training places, broadening pathways into the profession.

Staff retention also improved, with a 93% overall rate (up from 91.1%) and social work retention rising to 91.5% from 87% in January 2024. These gains reflect sustained investment in staff wellbeing, professional development and a culture grounded in respect, accountability, and support.

Tusla advanced its Integrated Reform Programme in 2024, designed to improve how services are delivered to children and families and better support its workforce. A key feature is the Local Integrated Service Delivery (LISD) model, which ensures that every child receives the right service, from the right professional, in the right place, at the right time. Following comprehensive consultation with staff across the country, a model grounded in frontline insight and experience was designed, and the implementation plan was completed, with national rollout planned for early 2026.

Significant progress was also made in building a digital-first infrastructure to support service delivery. Key achievements in 2024 include:

• Launch of a new Data Management and Digital Transformation Strategy (2024–2026)
• Over 140,000 cases managed through the Tusla Case Management (TCM) system.
• More than 97,000 online referrals and 31,000 information exchanges processed through the Tusla Digital Portal
• New oversight dashboards and reports developed for transparency and quality improvement.
• 1.5 million historical adoption records digitised, improving access, compliance, and record management.

These innovations provide frontline teams with secure, integrated access to a child’s information, enabling better decisions, faster collaboration, and more effective interventions.

Demand remained high across foster care, mainstream residential care, and special care. A new dedicated National Fostering Recruitment Team approved 15 new foster carers across Louth and Meath, and 245 nationally - a 21% increase on 2023 (173).

A further 47 beds were provided in residential care, with the SCSIP service opening 20 new registered children’s centres, providing a total of 128 extra beds, to provide children with a safe place.

Tusla said it continues to face challenges, particularly in special care, where recruitment of specialist professionals working with young people with complex needs, remains problematic. Progress was made in 2024, as the Agency implemented a range of targeted initiatives to attract and retain staff. This included national and international recruitment campaigns.

In collaboration with the Department of Children, Disability, and Equality, Tusla said it has successfully introduced an enhanced staff grade— Special Care Worker— to strengthen the delivery of special care services. This strategic initiative is already showing positive outcomes: the opening of an additional special care bed marks a tangible expansion in capacity, and recruitment under the new grade is now underway, supporting the safe and effective care of some of the most vulnerable children in care.

Tusla said that the 2024 Annual Report reinforces that protecting children is a shared societal responsibility, and that it requires commitment not only from Tusla, but from every part of public life: education, housing, health, justice, and the community

As the Agency enters its second decade, Tusla said it does so with renewed purpose: transforming systems, supporting its people, and advocating for children’s rights at every level of society.