Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 4 December 2025
406. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service reports received by her Department in the past three years that were graded as significantly non-compliant; and the actions taken by her Department following receipt of each report. [68843/25]
View answer411. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality the number of Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service reports received by her Department in the past three years that identified significant non-compliance in private residential centres and the steps her Department required Tusla to take following those reports. [68848/25]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 406 and 411 together.
The Department receives all Tusla Alternative Care Inspection Monitoring inspection reports. ACIMS The Alternative Care Inspection and Monitoring Service (ACIMS) is one of the regulatory services within Children’s Service Regulation which is part of the Quality and Regulatory Directorate within Tusla, the Child and Family Agency. ACIMS has two distinct functions.
The registration and inspection of non-statutory Children’s Residential Services
The monitoring of non-statutory Foster Care agencies
The Child Care (Standards in Children’s Residential Centres) Regulations, 1996 provide the regulatory framework against which registration decisions are primarily made. The National Standards for Children’s Residential Centres, 2018 (HIQA) provide the framework against which inspections are carried out and provide the criteria against which centres’ structures and care practices are examined. During inspection, inspectors use the standards to inform their judgement on compliance with relevant regulations. Inspections will be carried out against specific themes and may be announced or unannounced.
Results on ACIMS inspections were not collated centrally in previous years, though the Department will engage with Tusla on this going forward. Three categories are used to describe how standards are complied with. These are as follows:
Met: means that no action is required as the service/centre has fully met the standard and is in full compliance with the relevant regulation where applicable.
Met in some respect only: means that some action is required by the service/centre to fully meet a standard.
Not met: means that substantial action is required by the service/centre to fully meet a standard or to comply with the relevant regulation where applicable.
The Department reviews the reports that are deemed significantly non-compliant/Not met to determine any practice issues which can be escalated where deemed necessary. Through this process, the Department monitor emerging themes/patterns in practice in alternative care.
