Overview

• Gardaí discovered partial skeletal remains on open ground off Portrane Road and preserved the scene for specialist examination.
• Exhumation with DNA testing and a paediatric post‑mortem is planned to confirm identity and assess cause of death, which remains unknown.
• The inquiry is led from Swords Garda Station with national specialist units, after a technical examination of a flat at The Gallery Apartments on 31 August and weeks of targeted searches from 1 September.
• Investigators say Daniel had not been seen for years; the investigation began after the Department of Social Protection alerted Tusla on 29 August to irregularities in a child‑support application.
• Tusla’s prior contact with the family, which ended in 2020, has been referred to the National Review Panel, as the Children’s Minister orders wellbeing checks on pandemic‑era closed cases and the Taoiseach urges against a rush to judgment.