Two-year care order granted for baby
The baby’s mother is a heroin addict and at the Family Law Court in Ennis, a social worker for Tusla revealed the agency appointed her while the baby was still in her mother’s womb. She said that she was appointed as the baby’s social worker after the maternity hospital made the referral, as the mother was homeless and had a history of drug abuse.
The Tusla representative said that a case conference was held by the agency for the girl two days after she was born following a hospital blood test finding opiates in her blood.
The girl’s mother has absconded twice to the UK and remains there with her boyfriend, who is an active heroin user and took heroin while living with the baby. The boyfriend is not the baby’s father.
The baby girl has been in care since last September and her second social worker told the court on recently meeting the one-year-old: “I met a lovely, little, bubbly child who has made tremendous progress and met all her milestones and developed a close bond with her foster parent. There was lovely interaction between her and the placement is going very well.”
Recalling the aftermath of the baby’s birth, the baby’s first social worker said that on discharge from hospital, mother and baby went to live with a relative. The social worker said: “The mother was bonding well her baby girl. She was keeping all her appointments and everything was positive.”
Mother and baby commenced a 12-week residential assessment programme, where parenting and therapeutical supports are provided, last August.
On commencing the course, the mother tested positive for opiates and after only 10 days she left the course and fled to the UK with her baby and boyfriend.
Social services came into contact with the three in the UK and the baby was placed into foster care there. The baby was returned to Ireland last November on foot of a court order and was placed in foster care here.
The social worker told the court the mother told her she has been in touch with addiction services “but she has never really addressed her addiction issues”.
The mother left Ireland again in February and has not seen her child since. She has told the social worker she has no desire to return from the UK.
The baby’s current social worker told the court that the mother told her that she was on a methadone programme and she is not coming back to Ireland because of threats against her and her boyfriend.
Tusla was seeking a care order for the girl until she is 18. In her ruling, Judge Gráinne O’Neill said that the threshold for a care order had been met. However, she said the court had to be mindful of the statutory obligation to work towards re-unification, and that the mother had in the past gone through periods of engaging well and behaving appropriately at access visits.
She said: “In all of the circumstances, I am not satisfied that it would be proportionate for me to grant the full order as sought but will grant an order for two years from today’s date.”
