Study finds variations in granting of child care orders

A qualitative study of district court childcare proceedings has found huge variations in the rate at which care orders are granted.

The analysis, by Conor O’Mahony, a senior lecturer in the school of law at University College Cork, found that in some cases barristers and solicitors said they did not have adequate resources so they could represent parents in the way they wished.

It also found that in some areas it is “almost unknown” for a care order not to be granted, whereas in the case of one judge almost 50% of ICOs (interim care orders) and FCOs (full care orders) were refused.

According to the study, the findings of which were revealed yesterday at a conference in Dublin organised by the Child Law Reporting Project, three counties in Ireland account for more than half of all applications for child care orders.

The study involved the input of nine judges, 15 barristers, 10 social workers and others involved in the care process and looked at the role of parents’ rights, right to custody and care of children and the levels of legal representation, among other issues.

It found the rate at which orders were granted varied from county to county and year to year.

According to one judge: “An unsuccessful application is almost unknown… The fact that the [Child and Family Agency] [is] involved indicates that there is a problem and something needs to be done about the problem.”

In one county one judge almost never refused an order and in 2012 and 2013 did not refuse a single ICO.

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