The mother of a teenage boy whose life was described in the High Court last week as “out of control” is suing Tusla for failing to provide him with secure care.
Mr Justice John Jordan made an order that the teenager be detained in secure care, known as special care, for his own safety.
The Irish Times understand two further sets of proceedings are under way against Tusla for its failure to comply with High Court orders to provide special care to two other vulnerable children.
The boy’s case was one of 10 concerning the most at-risk and vulnerable adolescents in the State that came before Mr Justice Jordan’s court.
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Eight concerned reviews of children in special care, one involved a young person recently discharged from special care as they had turned 18, and another was an application in respect of a boy who is involved in using and selling drugs and who has had serious threats made against him.
However, the court heard no bed was available in any of the State’s three special care units.
Of the 26 special care beds in the State at campuses in Dublin and Limerick, just 15 are operational due to severe challenges recruiting and retaining staff.
Barrister Sarah McKechnie, for Tusla, applying for the order for the boy, confirmed there was “no special care placement available”.
The court heard the boy was using and selling drugs, having been “enticed” to do so by an older family member.
[ If Tusla were a flesh and blood parent, its children would be taken awayOpens in new window ]
It was “readily apparent”, the judge said, that the adolescent was “at significant risk by reason of the matters recited and in particular by reason of his involvement in drugs ... as a user and somebody who has been enticed into the world of selling drugs”.
“I am satisfied that this child’s life is out of control by reason of, essentially, drugs. I am satisfied that his involvement in the drugs world as a user and supplier poses a real and substantial risk of harm to his life, safety, development and welfare,” he said.
“That is readily apparent from the threats and actions and events described.”
Barrister Brendan Hennessy, for the boy’s mother, said she supported the application and “hopefully [he] can get a bed as soon as possible”.
He asked that the in camera rule be lifted in the boy’s case to allow documents relating to him to be shared with other agencies, to enable his mother to pursue litigation against Tusla.
Allowing his request, Mr Justice Jordan said: “I understand that there is no bed currently available for the child and there has been litigation correspondence. [I will] allow representatives of this child release documentation generated as part of these proceedings for the purposes of any plenary proceedings at issue.”
The boy’s situation will be reviewed by Mr Justice Jordan in his court on Thursday, on what is known as the ‘no beds’ list.
Meanwhile, the situation facing a teenager who left special care in recent weeks was described in the court as “bleak”.
“Things have not gone well,” the court heard.
Deirdre Lynch, barrister for the guardian ad litem – an independent advocate appointed by the court to be the young person’s voice – said the teenager had made suicide attempts.
“It is still the assessment of the guardian and other psychiatrists that a placement in UK is in [the teenager’s] best interests but it is for [them] to choose that,” she said.
The court heard the young adult was now deemed to have a mental disorder, despite not being deemed to have one when in special care.
“It is difficult to see positives at this stage but there are some,” said the judge. “The first is [the young person] is still alive and the second is the prognosis for the future is quite optimistic provided [they] get the care and treatment.”
