A High Court judge has granted an interim order directing that a baby due next week to a vulnerable teenage girl should not be removed from her, except in circumstances of a medical emergency.
Mr Justice Kelly stressed his order, which continues to next Thursday, was without prejudice to any jurisdiction the District Court may be asked to exercise under the Child Care Act 1991 in relation to the new-born's welfare. He also continued an order restraining any removal of the 17-year-old girl, her one-year-old son or, after birth, her new-born from the jurisdiction.
Counsel for the girl's partner and father of both her children said the man had never had any intention of taking the girl or children from the jurisdiction.
Earlier Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, for the Northern Area Health Board, indicated it intended to apply for orders relating to the care of the child soon after it was safely delivered. The board's proposal was to place the child in foster care with the girl's other child but it would keep every option open.
On Thursday Mr Cormac Corrigan SC, for the girl, initiated proceedings in which the girl is challenging the board's proposal to take her unborn child into care. She is seeking declarations that the board has failed in its statutory obligations to provide appropriate care and accommodation for herself and her one-year-old son and wants orders directing such care and accommodation be provided for them and her next child.
The girl has been in the care of the board since she was 14 and has had 14 different placements. Her son has been placed with two foster families to date with breaks in between. The hearing is set for May 19th.
Mr Justice Kelly said the girl became pregnant twice while in the board's care. It appeared it discharged its obligations by first putting her in B & Bs, which she had to leave between 10 a.m and 6 p.m, and then into a premises where she could come and go as she pleased.
She had no form or structure and it was "disquieting". The board saw this as the way to discharge its statutory obligations to a girl as disturbed and vulnerable as this. It was no surprise she had become pregnant again.
