A Barrister expressed concern at the High Court yesterday about the plight of a family of four young children in Dublin city, including a three-year-old boy reported to have been living in the home of his disabled and alcoholic uncle.
Mr Gerard Durcan SC made the remark when appearing for a 10- year-old boy who, until the intervention of the court last Friday, had been homeless and sleeping in cars and in the corridors and balconies of flats. The 10-year-old is the brother of the other three children - two girls aged 14 and 11 and the three-year-old boy.
The family has been known to the South-Western Area Health Board since 1992, when the 10-year-old was born. The boy was reported to have been seen begging around his estate and to have been dirty, cold and hungry. He was observed drinking and was jeered by other children at school about being "smelly". He app-eared to have scabies.
Concerns were also expressed in reports about visits made by the boy to an older man's flat. Some comments made by the girls have had raised concerns about sexual abuse.
The older boy's condition and lengthy absences from school - he was out of school for 44 days since last September - caused concern among his teachers and a report of a school attendance officer eventually led to court proceedings last week.
Before last Christmas, the 11-year-old girl was reported to be coming to school dirty and hungry. She has missed 38 school days since September 2001.
According to reports, the mother of the boy is an alcoholic who has frequently left the children unsupervised. The boy's father, who is not the mother's current partner, had told social workers he had to look after his elderly mother and would not take the boy in.
According to a SWAHB report, the family first became known to it in 1992, when the mother sought help in relation to a housing transfer. The family was again brought to the board's attention in 1997 when the ISPCC expressed concerns that the children were being left unsupervised, about the mother's drinking and about men drinking in the home.
The family was allocated a social worker and a report said that the board had been involved continuously with them since.
The mother was subsequently evicted from the family's corporation house for alleged anti-social behaviour. She had apparently allowed squatters to live there for a time while she was away. Since then she and the children had been staying with relatives and others.
On "numerous" occasions, according to a report, the mother had said she would turn up with her children at her local health centre and leave them to be taken into care. She did present at the centre on one occasion with the children, saying that they had all slept in a car the previous night and that the board could "have them all".
When a social worker said she could not take the children, because of a shortage of available placements, the mother became very abusive and threatened to leave the children in the car park.
On Friday, on the application of Mr Durcan, the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, granted an interim order directing the board to provide accomodation for the 10-year-old boy over the weekend.
Yesterday, the judge was told that the child had been placed in foster care and that it was hoped this arrangement would continue until May 22nd, when a residential place would be procured for him for assessment purposes.
Mr Felix McEnroy SC, for the health board, told the court that the assessment place had been arranged before last Friday's court hearing.
Mr Durcan said there were siblings of the boy whose situation he had brought to the attention of the board. According to reports, a community welfare officer had expressed concerns in 1996 about the older girl's behaviour. In November 2001 the board had concerns about the three-year-old meeting developmental checks. A report had described the children as neglected and at risk.
