Overview

• Gardaí removed the skeletal remains from open ground near Portrane Road after preserving the scene and say formal identification awaits DNA analysis.
• A specialist paediatric pathologist will conduct the post‑mortem, with investigators seeking to establish how and when the child died.
• Forensic work is complicated by partial remains, and searches at the Donabate site continue as detectives gather further evidence.
• The investigation was launched after the Department of Social Protection flagged irregularities in a welfare application, prompting Tusla to refer concerns to Gardaí.
• Tusla has begun a review of its prior engagement with the family and referred the case to the National Review Panel, as ministers order wellbeing checks on pandemic‑era case closures and Gardaí appeal for verified information only.