Today's The Irish Times reports on the horrific sexual exploitation of a 14-year-old girl, who has an intellectual disability, in Tusla's care by multiple men. The High Court has ordered the girl be moved to a special care setting but the Government has failed to ensure Tusla can provide the protection and support she desperately needs. The court also heard of another teenage girl being sexually exploited by men and a 16-year-old boy being drawn into drug trafficking by adult criminals. These cases are so serious the judge took the extraordinary step of ordering that the Ministers, Deputies Foley, O'Callaghan and Chambers, be informed of them. Nearly half the State's 26 special care beds remain closed because of staffing shortages. It is utterly shameful that in 2026 children who have already suffered extreme adversity are being subjected to appalling abuse and exploitation while in State care. What immediate action will the Taoiseach's Government take to protect these children and when will all 26 special care beds be safely operational?

The case reported this morning is very serious and deeply worrying. The Minister, Deputy Foley, and other Government colleagues are engaging on this case. The fundamental issue is, as the Deputy said, a shortage of staff in terms of being in a position to open all 26 special care beds. At the moment 15 of the 26 special care beds are staffed. These are for children with particularly complex needs who need sufficient and significant staffing resources. Sometimes it can be as high as 14 staff to an individual child or young person. It is not for the want of funding or supports but in a very core, complex number of cases the recruitment of staff has proven to be extremely difficult. However, the Government is continuing to work on this and on this case.