Emergency care order granted for infant of parents who refused social worker visit

An emergency care order was granted yesterday for an infant whose parents refused to let a garda and social worker into their home.

The infant had been the subject of a supervision order, granted to the Child and Family Agency earlier this week. The order allowed the agency visit the home of the child to monitor her health and welfare.

But when a garda and social worker arrived at the family home on Wednesday, they were prevented from entering.

Giving evidence at the Dublin District Family Court, the garda said she called to the property with a social worker at 11.40am the day after the supervision order was granted.

She told Judge Marie Quirke the infant's mother was screaming and shouting at the door, was wearing her pyjamas and appeared "dishevelled".

‘Intoxicated’

The mother had “black residue on her teeth” and her eyes were “wide and bulging”. The garda believed the woman was “intoxicated with a substance”.

The infant’s father shouted they were being harassed and refused to show them the baby. The couple said they would see the district nurse, the garda said, and though she was unhappy, she and the social worker left the house.

Later in the day, the garda said she checked with the district nurse and was told she had not been allowed to see the baby either and a probation officer had called to the home and was refused entry.

The garda went back to the house that evening with other officers, some in uniform.

‘In a rage’

The mother was “in a rage and under the influence of an intoxicant”, the garda said. The baby was lying on the floor and though there was shouting when gardaí arrived, the baby did not react.

The garda said she believed the lack of reaction meant the mother’s “aggression and anger” was a regular occurrence.

She said when she examined the baby, her clothes were wet and her nappy was bulging. There was “sick on her baby grow” and “poo up her back and in her vest”. The nappy was only wet, so it must have been from earlier in the day, the garda said. The infant also had bad nappy rash.

The garda removed the baby girl under emergency powers granted in the Child Care Act 1991.

She said she was with the baby for half an hour before the social worker arrived and believed her motor skills were underdeveloped because she couldn’t stand, or push herself up and was unable to focus.

The court also heard the garda had visited the family the day before the supervision order was made and when she looked in the front window of the house, the baby, and parents were all asleep on a mattress on the floor and the baby had been sick.

She told Judge Quirke she believed there was a serious and immediate risk to the health and welfare of the infant.

A barrister for the mother said her client did not accept the garda’s version of events, but agreed to the emergency care order being granted “without prejudice”. The agency agreed daily access to the child until the next court date, barring the weekend.

Granting the eight-day order, Judge Quirke also directed the address of the infant’s foster carers should not be given to the parents.