Tusla Faces "Significant Risk" as 300 Adult Asylum Seekers Misidentified as Children

Concerns are mounting regarding the safety of child asylum seekers in Tusla’s care, particularly after nearly 300 asylum seekers claiming to be children between 2022 and 2025 were later identified as adults. This issue, highlighted by Hiqa, legal professionals, and the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), stems from adults being incorrectly placed in homes intended for vulnerable young people.

Tusla, in an April 27th letter to the PAC, described the «significant risk» it faces due to lacking legal provision to conduct age assessments. Under sections 13 and 14 of the International Protection Act, 2015, immigration officials must refer unaccompanied minors to Tusla, where they are presumed children and receive care. This places Tusla in a difficult position, effectively performing age assessments without a legislative basis, and having to accommodate individuals while their age is being assessed.

Tusla uses an «intake eligibility assessment» in the form of an interview, finding it challenging to rebut claims of minority due to best practice guidelines and the presumption of minority. Previous methods like dental X-rays are no longer used due to ethical concerns. The agency emphasizes the risks of mistakenly placing adults in children’s accommodation and the severe consequences for children wrongly deemed adults, including denial of schooling.

An urgent case in Dublin District Court last month saw an age inquiry adjourned, leaving a male asylum seeker believed by Tusla to be an adult in a children’s facility. Conversely, Safetynet reported cases in 2023 where child asylum seekers were wrongly placed in adult centers, becoming «extremely vulnerable.» Tusla received 768 referrals in 2025 and accommodated about 1,200 unaccompanied minors. Referrals for the first three months of 2026 dropped from 196 to 97, coinciding with a new «age screening» process at entry points ahead of the EU Migration Pact in June.