State failure to house teen ‘unforgivable’

A judge has said it is “unforgivable” that the State cannot provide a placement to a child in care.

Judge John O’Connor heard at the Dublin Children’s Court yesterday that gardaí had no objection to bail being granted to a boy aged 15 who was accused of stealing €4,500 during a burglary in Dublin.

The teenager has been in voluntary care since last year and has already been placed in a number of children’s homes. However, he had spent the past four weeks in a juvenile detention facility after breaching bail terms set down earlier by the Children’s Court, where he is also facing criminal proceedings.