Child `was placed in care of heroin addicts'

A High Court judge has expressed alarm that a 13-year-old girl was apparently placed in the care of two heroin addicts facing criminal charges with the knowledge of an Eastern Health Board social worker.

Mr Justice Kelly drew attention to the plight of the child when he granted leave to a mother of two, a heroin addict, to seek orders by way of judicial review.

The woman wants to have quashed a decision by Dublin Corporation to serve her with a notice to quit her Darndale home after drugs were found there, and to have quashed a summons requiring her to show cause at the District Court why her house should not be delivered up.

The judge directed that the leave act as a stay on the District Court proceedings, but said the corporation could apply at 24 hours' notice to vary or discharge that aspect of his order.

The woman and her partner have pleaded guilty to charges arising from a heroin seizure at her home and will be sentenced in May. The woman says she has taken steps since the arrest to cure her addiction and is on a methadone programme.

She claims the corporation has not taken into account this change of circumstances or her children's constitutional rights and those of her partner's 13-year-old daughter. Granting limited leave yesterday to challenge the eviction proceedings, the judge said his concerns were for the children. Not a lot could be said for the mother, who was largely responsible for bringing about the present situation, but he had concluded the low threshold of proof required for judicial review proceedings had been achieved.

Drawing attention to the plight of the 13-year-old girl, the judge stressed he had only one side of the story, but if half of what he was told was true and there was sworn evidence before him, the state of affairs was "truly alarming" and "very disturbing".

In an affidavit, the mother said the girl was the child of her partner and another woman, who had died some years ago. Her partner was also a heroin addict and was facing charges arising out of the drugs seizure.

After her mother's death, the 13-year-old lived with another relative, who also died, the woman said. A relative who took the child after that was unable to cope and had telephoned the EHB social services in December 1998, but was told there was nothing they could do.

The woman said at that stage her partner brought the child to a Garda station with a view to having her taken into EHB care. Another relative had offered at that stage to take charge of the child, but was unable to cope after a fortnight.

The woman said she then contacted the EHB social services to get accommodation for the child. She took her to a Garda station on January 1st and waited till about 1.30 a.m. on January 2nd when hostel accommodation was found by the EHB for the child for the weekend.

The woman said an EHB social worker brought the child back to her on January 4th and told her they could not provide accommodation for her unless she was homeless for seven days. In the meantime the woman would have to bring her to a Garda station each evening while they attempted to find a place for her for the night.

In those circumstances, the woman said, she agreed, with "the full knowledge and consent" of the social worker, to take charge of the child herself. The child had been with her since and her behaviour had stabilised. The child was attending school and a counsellor.