The Taoiseach has described the discovery of remains believed to be those of a long-missing boy as “deeply shocking,” reports Breaking News.
On Wednesday, gardaí confirmed they had located skeletal remains during their investigation into the disappearance of Daniel Aruebose, who vanished several years ago and would now be seven years old.
The discovery followed several weeks of searching in the Donabate area of Co Dublin, prompted by concerns raised about the child at the end of August.
Human skeletal remains were uncovered on Wednesday, and while DNA analysis and official identification are pending, gardaí believe they are Daniel’s, reports Breaking News.
Authorities have stated that the remains will be carefully exhumed from the site where they were found.
Speaking on Thursday, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said: “It is deeply, deeply shocking and very, very sad that the remains of a young boy have been discovered yesterday. The family, the community, and I think wider society, are deeply saddened, particularly when you know the photographs emerged, which put a person and an identity on to what was prior to that – you didn’t realise who the boy was. We have to await further investigations by the gardai and by others into the background here to then inform us in terms of how we take this forward,” reports Breaking News.
He added: “It’s very poignant, very sad to see a young, beautiful child go missing and to die,” reports Breaking News.
During remarks made at the National Ploughing Championships, Mr Martin described the case as something that reflects broader issues within society.
He supported previous comments made by his Fianna Fáil colleague and Children’s Minister Norma Foley, who suggested the need to assess how children are “tracked” in public systems like education, reports Breaking News.
He also pointed to difficulties tied to population growth and increasing movement across borders.
“There are issues that we would examine, but I think we have to do it on an evidence-based and informed manner – but it’s very, very sad,” reports Breaking News.
When questioned about Labour’s demand for a “root-and-branch” review of the child protection system in Ireland, Mr Martin warned against drawing conclusions too soon.
Daniel’s family had past interactions with the child and family agency Tusla, but the agency ended its involvement after a temporary foster care arrangement concluded.
Mr Martin said: “We need to be very careful about our language. There are many genuine, lots of genuine people working in Tusla, working flat out. Carelessly using language and conflating Tusla with what happened here is wrong in advance of finding out what actually happened here,” reports Breaking News.
He stated that An Garda Síochána would keep investigating the matter and that the Government plans to undertake a “broader examination” of child protection services.
“In many of these situations is the intersection of privacy, of family and state engagement.”
He added: “There is an issue around tracking and making sure that we have better systems to understand if a child is moving out of one locality, one parish, one school or whatever, that through our health system and through our education system, that we have a better capacity to follow that,” reports Breaking News.
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