A HEALTH board has denied that its childcare guidelines forbid children under the age of 16 from babysitting.
Yesterday a woman in the midlands said social workers warned her and her husband not to let their 14 year old son babysit their four younger children.
The woman made her allegations on the Today with Pat Kenny programme on RTE.
She later told The Irish Times that a family support worker told her a health board directive forbade children under the age of 16 from babysitting.
The health board said there is no such directive and that whether there were concerns in an individual case would depend on the situation in the particular family.
The woman lives with her husband and five children. The children are aged 1 to two years.
She said she had had a nervous breakdown in the past year which caused her to seek a barring order against her husband. The health board family support worker has been calling to help her because of her difficulties.
Family support workers are not social workers but help families in difficulties.
She said the warning came after she remarked to the family support worker that her 14 year old could mind the children while she did the shopping.
The woman said she telephoned the Department of Justice and the "Department of Health who told her there were no laws or guidelines concerning the age of babysitters.
But she said two social workers in the health board repeated the warning and that one said the matter could be reported to the Garda.
The Midlands Health Board child care manager, Ms Siobhan Keogh, said last night the health board had no guidelines concerning babysitting.
If a field worker knew of a situation where a child was being left inappropriately minding a lot of children, and if a child was being asked to take on too much responsibility for his or her age, "the field worker would have to report that up the line through a senior".
The health board would be obliged to notify the Garda of the situation under the current health board guidelines. These oblige gardai and social workers to notify each other if they fear children may be at risk.
Mr Kieran McGrath, editor of the Irish Social Worker, said hem was not aware of health boards laying down ages for babysitters.