The District Court has not used powers offered by the Children's Act to fine parents for damage caused by their children, even though the regulations came into effect over a year ago.
This disclosure came following confusion caused by the Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Mr Willie O'Dea at the Fianna Fáil Ardfheis on Saturday, when he claimed the powers were new and coming into force from yesterday.
However, it now emerges that the Minister of State for Children, Mr Brian Lenihan signed the regulations into law in May 2002, though they have been left unused by district court judges since then.
Yesterday, court sources told The Irish Times that €50m worth of other changes promised at the time, including improved probation services and more residential places for disturbed children, never materialised.
Despite pleas for extra resources, District Court judges were able to detain only 57 troubled children to reformatory and industrial schools.
The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform said parents would not be fined, or made to pay compensation, if they could not afford to pay, or if they were drug addicts, alcoholics, etc. However, some parents can afford to pay, Mr O'Dea said yesterday.
Many were repeatedly warned by gardaí about the conduct of their children, but they failed to discipline them. "I know instances where parents who can afford to pay compensation up to a certain level have made no effort at all to control their kids, even though it has been brought to their attention by the gardaí."
However, the prospect that courts would impose significant numbers of fines against parents has been criticised by children's groups and childcare experts as unworkable and unnecessary.
Father Peter McVerry, who has worked with troubled children for over three decades, dismissed Mr O'Dea's comments. "The number of parents who wilfully ignore what their children are doing is very, very small."
Dr Eoin O'Sullivan of the Department of Social Studies, Trinity College, said the 1908 Children's Act allowed the courts to penalise parents for criminal damage caused by their children, but it had been rarely used. Furthermore, the State and, or, the country's health boards, cannot be fined by the courts if children in their care cause damage. Between 3,500 and 4,000 children are currently in care.
"The key question is has the State held itself responsible for its own failures in the same way. We have seen numerous cases which have been to the High Court over the failure of the State to provide for homeless or troubled children, and to control and provide for those children in its care.
"The State hasn't been able, so how can it penalise poor parents who can't?" asked Dr O'Sullivan. He said that fining parents would merely "exacerbate" an already difficult situation.His comments were echoed by Mr Ray Dooley, chief executive of the Children's Rights Alliance, who warned that while it might sound appealing, it was "unrealistic", and could have the opposite effect to "further disengage from their children to avoid financial liability".
Mr Seán Redmond, southern regional manager for Barnardos, said a preferred option to fining parents was "to work with them to get kids back into school". He said the highest concentration of young offenders and those who avoid school came from "poor families and poor neighbourhoods". "A financial penalty is yet another kick in the teeth."