Photo showing adult holding child's hand

Ireland’s Central Authority—which works with the country’s Department of Justice to handle international parental child abduction (IPCA) cases—is attempting to resolve 52 cases involving missing children, reports The Irish Times. As of August 7, 2025, the organization was working on 39 cases in which a parent is in Ireland, but their child or children have been taken to another country, and 13 “incoming” cases where a parent who lives abroad is seeking the return of their child from Ireland. In most cases of missing children (30 out of 39 cases) these children are thought to be elsewhere in Europe, with nine cases involving kids suspected of being much farther afield. Eight of the 13 incoming cases relate to children who were previously located elsewhere in Europe, with five cases involving kids who were previously outside Europe.

After three years of preparation, Ireland officially launched Child Rescue Ireland, a child abduction alert similar to the AMBER Alert, on May 25, International Missing Children's Day. Child advocates have pushed for an alert and a recent report indicated Ireland had 114 children go missing during the past five years.

Ireland's top law enforcement agency issued a report stating that the country needs to develop an AMBER Alert program. The report from the Garda Inspectorate said the alert system for missing children should include “strict criteria and provisions for international collaboration.”

The report noted that an AMBER Alert would not have been issued in any missing child case in Ireland during the past decade but that an all-island alert system needs to be in place. “The potential to rescue a child from a life-threatening abduction is deserving of priority in all circumstances.”

Child activists and politicians are urging the Irish government to implement a hotline for missing children. The European Commission reserved the 116 000 phone number for alerts for missing children. A total of 10 countries are now using the number.