Courts

Girl’s transfer to UK due to lack of special care beds in Ireland branded ‘disgraceful’ by judge

Move an ‘Irish solution to an Irish problem’, says Mr Justice John Jordan

At the High Court, Mr Justice John Jordan said it was 'wholly unacceptable' that an order for a girl's detention in a specialist setting here was not given effect to by the Child and Family Agency (Tusla). Photograph: Bryan O'Brien/The Irish Times

Ellen O'Riordan
Thu Apr 25 2024 - 20:57

A High Court judge has lambasted as “disgraceful” the need to send a 17-year-old girl to a specialist secure unit in Britain because there is no such place available for her in Ireland.

On Thursday, Mr Justice John Jordan “with reluctance and regret” discharged his order providing for the girl’s detention in an Irish special care unit after hearing she was transported to Britain in recent days.

The court heard her life had been in jeopardy “every single evening”, and the judge said she was being exploited to an “extraordinary degree” and in a way that would likely affect her for the rest of her life. She was a young girl with many troubles in life, and “nobody to stand up for her”, he said.

Mr Justice Jordan said it was “wholly unacceptable” that an order for her detention in a specialist setting here was not given effect to by the Child and Family Agency (also known as Tusla).

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The girl’s transfer to Britain, sanctioned by another High Court order, was “lamentable” and “something of an Irish solution to an Irish problem”, he added.

His order had not been implemented due to a shortage of places in the State’s three specialist secure centres arising from a staffing crisis in the sector. The judge noted there are currently eight highly at-risk children who have not entered special care on foot of his orders.

These are children aged 12 to 17 for whom the court deems such detention is necessary in order to protect their lives, safety, welfare and development.

Mr Justice Jordan asked: “How can it be in a modern democracy that legislation is not having an effect because the apparatus – the machinery – which is there cannot be put in motion? It is an absurd failure on the part of whoever has power to resolve the issue once and for all.”

His special care order for the 17-year-old “should not be discharged”, and it should not have been necessary to obtain a High Court order, under the court’s inherent powers, permitting her transfer to Britain because of “system failures in Ireland”. He said this was a “disgraceful situation”.

He was told by senior counsel David Leahy, for the girl’s court-appointed advocate, that she had recently been transported by private aircraft, while her overseas placement costs were “in the order of tens and tens of thousands of euro each month”. Despite these “eyewatering” sums, Mr Leahy said, the Child and Family Agency has said it is unable to pay enough to properly staff Ireland’s three special care units.

He said the move to the UK was “positive” compared to what the girl had been experiencing here.

Barrister Sarah McKechnie, for the agency, said the decision to move the girl was made as an “absolute last resort” and is “entirely regrettable”. The money spent transferring and detaining the girl overseas cannot be applied to open more special care places in Ireland, she said.

Although the agency has recruited new staff to special care, workers are leaving at a faster rate, she said. Her client is bound by public sector pay agreements, meaning its “hands are tied” regarding the amounts it can offer to staff.

Mr Justice Jordan said he had to find out which party, whether a Government Minister or other body, was in a position to resolve what is preventing a child such as this girl from receiving a special care placement here.

It seemed to him that quadrupling rates of pay would “no question” solve the staffing shortage, which “goes back years”, but this was not feasible. The agency appeared to believe that a balance between that and current rates of pay could be struck to make working in the area more attractive, he added.

The current situation “cannot continue” and “must be addressed” by those with power to solve the issues, he said. He directed Tusla to file a report regarding steps being taken to open up more special care beds.

Separately, the agency is the subject of an application seeking to have its chief executive brought to court and committed to prison over the agency’s alleged failure to comply with an order for another young teenager’s placement in special care. That case has been adjourned.

Ellen O'Riordan

Ellen O'Riordan

Ellen O'Riordan is an Irish Times reporter

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