The general manager of the Western Health Board has been ordered to appear before Galway District Court tomorrow to explain why the board cannot control a teenage girl, deemed unruly and incorrigible by the court, even though it has a statutory obligation to do so.
The 15-year-old girl, who may not be named because of her age, has been breaching bail conditions and a curfew imposed on her by the court by constantly running away from a Western Health Board-run centre for troubled teenagers at Salthill, Galway.
The girl had been given one last chance by the court the previous week and granted bail on condition she observed a nightly curfew and obeyed all directions of staff at the centre.
Yesterday, a staff member told the court that the girl had absconded from their care on nine occasions last week and had threatened staff with violence.
"She is very aggressive and we know she is hanging around with undesirables."
The girl first appeared before the court last July when concern was expressed for her safety by garda∅ and staff at the board's residential centre. She had been placed in the care of the board earlier this year after her mother sought an order obliging the authorities to take her into care.
The girl's mother told the court last July she was afraid her daughter would end up dead. She said her child was taking drugs since she was 13 and took an overdose on one occasion. She regularly went missing for days at a time, was sleeping rough and mixing with bad types.
In court yesterday, Judge John Garavan said the girl was more bold than bored and he suggested he deem her unruly and send her to the women's section of Mountjoy until a suitable place was found for her elsewhere.
After consultation with a court probation officer, Judge Garavan said the situation was completely inadequate and it was clear she needed care and attention. He said the girl was already under the care of a statutory authority but it kept bringing her back before the court and asking the court to solve an intractable problem.
"I want the general manager of the Western Health Board to come before the court on Wednesday to see if anything can be done and hear what programme can be put in place by the statutory body."