The Child Care Law Reporting Project, the independent child care case reporting project established and run by Dr. Carol Coulter has released its latest volume of 30 child care cases that came before the courts. The project which was established under section 3 of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2007 offers an otherwise unseen view of childcare law proceedings that come before the courts. To date the project has published 9 volumes of child care case reports.
The latest volume of cases outlines a number of child care proceedings concerning children who were subject to online sexual abuse, violent behaviour, neglect and exposure to drug use whilst under their parent’s care. Additionally, one case concerned a child who argued that their human rights were being violated, as psychiatric care they were receiving abroad was not available on their return to Ireland.
Speaking to the Irish Times following the publication of the latest volume of cases Dr Carol Coulter remarked how some of the cases published under the project “are very shocking and highlight the importance of the vigilance of international police forces”. Dr Coulter aslo highlighted the vulnerability of the parents of those children that come to the attention of the courts service stating that “most parents whose children come to the attention of social services are themselves vulnerable, may be sufferring from cognitive or other disabilities, may have no experience of normal family life and have been in care themselves”.
Click here to visit the Child Care Law Reporting Project website.
Click here to read an article in the Irish Times on the most recently published volume of cases.