Young adults who as children were at the centre of a series of High Court actions over the State's failure to provide adequate care have launched legal claims for damages.
At least three of the people whose cases came before the High Court between 1996 and 2002 in an attempt to obtain proper care have now lodged claims - in effect, test cases.
It is expected that one of the cases will be heard towards the end of next year and, if successful, could spark a string of similar cases from other young adults who had serious behavioural problems and who claim they did not receive adequate therapeutic treatment.
Many of the children who went through the High Court process continue to have serious problems, often becoming involved in crime. The Irish Times has located five individuals involved in these cases.
One has killed himself, two others have been on the streets, while a fourth is currently in jail. A fifth has recently been sent to Sweden for further treatment. The majority of the cases were heard by Mr Justice Peter Kelly, who was severely critical of childcare policy in many judgments, and made an order to the Government to provide 46 extra high support places.
The cases effectively came to a halt in December 2001, when the Supreme Court ruled Mr Justice Kelly crossed the boundary between the powers of the courts and those of the Government when he made that order.
However, according to legal sources, the Supreme Court judgment left it open to the children to take damages claims over any failures to provide adequate accommodation. Since the cases, the Government and health boards have embarked on a €40 million building programme, creating more than 100 special care and high-support places in new centres around the country.
The Minister of State for Children, Mr Brian Lenihan, has asked the Residential Services Board, which oversees the special care system, to review unit numbers.
Mr Lenihan has defended Government policy in the area, and said there had been huge improvements since the cases of the late 1990s, including youth advocacy and other early intervention programmes. New special care units, despite initial teething problems, were now operating well, he told The Irish Times.
Mr Lenihan said he would also be enacting the special care order section of the 2001 Children's Act. This will allow social workers to go to the district courts and have children placed in residential care under special care orders, replacing the need to apply to the High court.
However, he acknowledged the system had to move away from an over-reliance on residential care, and towards early intervention.
