She was responding after the chief executive of Tusla Kate Duggan said that several children went missing from the agency’s care every day.

Ms Duggan told a committee on Thursday that children in care might leave school or be on a recreational trip and “they bolted and ran”. She said the agency then worked with gardai to locate the children “as quickly as possible”.

Asked about the comments, Ms Foley said she had discussed the issue of how many children went missing from State care, and how they were reported, with Ms Duggan and Tusla’s board of management.

“Any child that is absent for 15 minutes is regarded as a child that has gone missing,” she said at Government Buildings in Dublin.

“So they are reported as gone missing if they don’t return to a point that they’re meant to be at wi

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