Major report highlights shortcomings in how Irish justice system delivers for children

Limited specialist services for the victims of child sex abuse, lack of cooperation between gardaí and social workers, and problems in the organisation and practice of the courts all contribute to certain child protection cases lasting up to three years, according to a new report.

The Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) was asked by the Department of Children & Youth Affairs (DCYA) to undertake further research into aspects of the child protection system following its 2015 report.

The CCLRP undertook research on exceptionally lengthy and complex cases to examine why some cases become highly contested, protracted and complex. As well as examining the cases in detail, the CCLRP interviewed 40 key participants in these and other complex cases.

The report was launched in Dublin this morning by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, and Eiméar Fisher of the DCYA.

Dr Carol Coulter, report author and director of the CCLRP, said: “While this report was commissioned by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, child protection proceedings involve the interaction of the social worker system with the courts and the justice system, and solutions to the problems in child care proceedings involve them both.”

Dr Coulter stressed: “The problems in this interaction cannot be solved by the Department or Tusla alone.

“Government policy in relation to resourcing the judiciary and the courts, the priority given to services in other Government departments which bear on vulnerable children, along with legislation, policy and practice in child care and the courts, will all play a major role.”

The prolonged and complex cases examined share certain features. These include allegations of very serious harm to a child or children, involving the likelihood of a criminal investigation; lack of coordination between State agencies concerning the allegations made; the involvement of a substantial number of expert witnesses; the requirement for professional assessments of the children and sometimes also of the parents; difficulties and delays in obtaining such assessments; disputes between experts as to the findings of the assessments and disputes between the Child and Family Agency (Tusla) and other parties on the admissibility of evidence.

Of the ten cases examined, the longest ran for 52 days in court over a period of nearly three years. Adjournments were common; for example, there were 22 adjournments in one case. Multiple witnesses were called to give evidence, including expert witnesses from outside the jurisdiction; in one case there were 24 witnesses and in another there were 13 expert witnesses heard. The numbers of lawyers involved was high, with up to 10 lawyers in some cases.

Seven of the ten prolonged cases examined, and all except one of those that took over a year, were heard outside Dublin, with six of them heard by moveable judges, who are called in by the local judge when he or she does not have time to hear a lengthy case. This can cause a range of logistical problems for hearing the case.

Eight cases involved allegations of child sexual abuse and the remaining two involved allegations of physical abuse, including one case alleging non-accidental injury to an infant. Statistics collected by the CCLRP, and separate research by the Legal Aid Board, suggests that child protection cases involving sex abuse allegations make up only five to six per cent of all child protection cases coming before the courts, which in turn form only a minority of all Tusla interventions on behalf of children at risk, so these cases are not typical of the bulk of work undertaken by Tusla, but still “demonstrate systemic problems with the child protection system as overseen by the courts”.

This study highlights issues that require attention from various State agencies, including: