The District Court refused the Health Service Executive’s application to withhold from a mother part of a social work file concerning an allegation that she sexually abused X, a 17-year-old in HSE care. The court also refused X’s separate application to prevent disclosure.
The judgment, dated 25 March 2013, concerned four children identified only as Child 1, Child 2, Child 3 and Child 4. Three remained in care at the time. The HSE had said it intended to return Child 4 to the mother and place Child 3 in voluntary care from 10 April, subject to the mother abstaining from drugs and alcohol. It said it did not plan to rely on X’s allegation in deciding the younger children’s care arrangements.
The allegation was made in April 2012. The judge did not determine whether it was true, and said it was not appropriate to comment on the quality of X’s disclosure. The court found that the mother had not been told of the allegation or given an opportunity to take part in an investigation. It concluded that the allegation needed proper investigation both to assess possible risks to the children and to afford the mother fairness.
The court accepted evidence that X was psychologically vulnerable, with a history of self-harm and at least seven suicide attempts, and that disclosure could increase the risk of suicide or self-harm. It was not satisfied there were substantial grounds to conclude that the mother’s two older children posed an actual threat to X. The judge said X’s privacy alone did not justify restricting disclosure in light of the mother’s and children’s rights to fair procedures and proper welfare assessments.
The judge found the court could consider X’s welfare and rights because he had been joined as a third party to the section 47 proceedings. The record did not specify the statutory basis for that joinder, so the judge treated it as having been made under section 47. The court said full and timely disclosure was the general rule and that the exceptional threshold for withholding the material was not met.
The HSE must immediately arrange a safety plan and necessary psychological and psychiatric supports for X to help him deal with disclosure. It must investigate the allegation, review care plans for the three children still in care, carry out a formal risk assessment for them and put proper safety plans in place. The judgment does not decide the allegation or make a finding that the mother abused X.