Dr Maria Corbett

The analytical report identifies trends emerging from three years of court reporting and marks the conclusion of the Project’s three-year contract with the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY).

The report will be launched in Dublin later today by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, the government’s special rapporteur on child protection, at an event which will also hear from District Court president Judge Paul Kelly and report authors Dr Maria Corbett and Dr Carol Coulter.

Based on the Project’s attendance at child protection court hearings over a three-year period from mid-2021 until June 2024, the report provides in-depth commentary on trends emerging from 343 individual court reports.

A striking finding is the increased focus from the courts on the lack of appropriate care placements for children.

The report also features the findings of a survey examining a typical day in court. The Project attended 38 court venues across the 24 districts that make up the District Court and found that, in a majority of these courts, child care cases are still heard alongside other cases in often-crowded lists.

Dr Maria Corbett, CEO of the Child Law Project, said: “Across the three years of court reporting, we have seen examples where children are reported to be flourishing in care and making great strides to overcome personal difficulties.

“However, we have also observed an increasing number of instances where members of the judiciary and other professionals have expressed concern and frustration that children are falling through the cracks.”

She noted: “Serious cracks are evident in the State’s response to children, including an acute shortage of foster and residential care placements; a dismal response by the HSE to meeting the disability, mental health and addiction needs of children in care; and weak interagency cooperation. These cracks are having a detrimental impact on some of Ireland’s most vulnerable children.

“While we welcome the recent establishment by the Department of Children of an interagency committee on vulnerable children, there remains no whole-of-government strategy on child protection.

“There is also no roadmap to deliver the legal and policy changes necessary to create a new placement model of high support care for children with complex needs and those at risk of exploitation or trafficking.”

Dr Corbett continued: “While there has been welcome progress made over the past three years to reform the family justice system and amend child care law, the findings of this report underscore the need for urgent cross-government action on the provision of care placements and therapeutic services to ensure the State can vindicate the rights of children and build trust in the care system.”

Speaking ahead of the launch event this afternoon, Ms Gallagher said: “Since 2012 the Child Law Project has undertaken vitally important work, providing the public and policy-makers with information on, and meticulous analysis of, child care proceedings in the courts.

“This latest report shines a light on a care system creaking at the seams, and rising judicial concern about the absence of appropriate care placements. This report sounds the alarm: some of Ireland’s most vulnerable children are falling through the cracks. The key question now is how the State will respond.”

Dr Carol Coulter, executive director of the Child Law Project, added: “Our survey of the District Court paints a picture of a court system under severe strain.

“In over 70 per cent of regional courts, child protection cases were squeezed into overloaded case lists and heard alongside family, licensing and criminal matters, despite a legal requirement that they be heard separately.

“One judge had to hear 160 matters in one day, several judges were so busy they didn’t break for lunch. For parents attending court, many had to wait around the courthouse all day for their case to be called, with nowhere to sit or talk in private to their lawyer.

“We welcome the plan to establish Family Courts which have the potential to standardise practice across the country and enable child care to be given the time and specialist focus it deserves.”

The report also describes the profile of children and parents who come before the courts in child care cases.

A stand-out finding is that almost a third of parents (29 per cent) in child care cases suffered from a disability, of whom two-thirds had mental health problems and most of the remainder had a cognitive disability.

“The provision of appropriate supports to vulnerable parents, especially those with disabilities, could help keep children in their families and meet Ireland’s obligations under international human rights law,” Dr Coulter said.

“Like the supports needed by children with complex needs, this requires cooperation across a number of government departments.”