Judge overturns order putting two children into care

An order directing two young children should be put in temporary care has been overturned by a High Court judge on grounds the District Court had no power to impose certain obligations on the parents in a supervision order, including to undergo parenting assessments.

Mr Justice Gerard Hogan has directed the District Court should reconsider the matter in light of his findings and to decide how best to safeguard the children. The parents initiated High Court proceedings just hours before armed gardaí and social workers came to their home seeking to put the children into care. Because of the proceedings, the children were not taken into care.

Emotional abuse
The District Court made the temporary care order last month after finding the parents engaged in emotional abuse by falsely alleging one of their children was abused by an older child and also failed to comply with a supervision order.

The action was brought by a couple concerning four children subject of complex childcare proceedings since 2012.

The couple are parents of the two youngest children while the older two are the mother’s children.