The District Court granted the Health Service Executive a care order for a child until his 18th birthday, finding that his health, development and welfare would suffer if an order were not made. The court also directed that the case return for review while enquiries into his paternity remained incomplete.
The judgment, dated 13 September 2012, says the child had lived with his maternal aunt since he was about four. His mother, the respondent, died on 14 May 2012. Before her death, she had a history of polysubstance abuse and psychosis consequent on drug use, and had placed the child with her sister and the sister’s family under a private care arrangement.
The HSE sought an interim care order on 16 June 2012, following the mother’s death, because the child had no legal guardian and the agency wanted to secure his status in care. The HSE had approved the kinship placement, and the aunt had been assessed as suitable and approved as a foster carer under section 36 of the Child Care Act 1991.
The child’s father was unknown, and paternity enquiries were ongoing. The judgment records that the child’s older sibling lived with their grandparents at a different venue and that the siblings had a good relationship. The child’s Guardian ad Litem canvassed his views; he clearly wished to remain in his aunt’s long-term care. The Guardian supported the HSE’s application for a full care order until he was 18.
After considering the Guardian’s report, the HSE care plan and evidence from the allocated social worker and Guardian, the court found the threshold under section 18(1)(c) was met. It ordered care until the child’s 18th birthday, identified in the judgment as 7 November 2019. The Guardian was discharged, with costs to be taxed if the parties could not agree.
By consent, the court made section 47 directions. The case was to be re-entered, with the Guardian reappointed four weeks beforehand, if the child became without an allocated social worker or fostering link worker for four weeks, if his kinship foster placement changed, or for an after-care review on his 17th birthday. The court also set a return date of 11 March 2013 to allow completion of the care plan in light of the outstanding paternity investigations. The Guardian was to be reappointed on 28 January 2013 and given access to the relevant HSE files.