A judge has condemned as “outrageous” and “unbelievable” the situation facing a 14-year-old boy in Tusla care who is being moved between hotel placements on a nightly basis and has no knowledge of where he will be sleeping, reports Breaking News.
At the Family Law Court on Friday, Judge Adrian Harris said he was wrestling with a deeply troubling question: “are we doing more harm having this child in care rather than not in care?” He described the teenager as being “put up in different places every night; doesn’t know where … and is covering half the country,” reports Breaking News.
Tusla had obtained an emergency care order for the boy the previous month.
On one occasion, the teenager had been admitted to a university hospital by Tusla as a social admission after the fuel protests prevented gardaà from completing a transfer to a Dublin hotel placement, reports Breaking News.
The court was told the boy had recently been accommodated at a location in Co Limerick and hotels in Dublin and Portlaoise.
The social care worker’s report was described by Judge Harris as “very, very disappointing,” and a Special Emergency Care arrangement, though approved for the boy, had not yet been identified, reports Breaking News.
Judge Harris said: “This child is going from one hotel to another hotel late at night, he doesn’t know where he is going. It is just unbelievable and outrageous stuff on the part of TUSLA, absolutely outrageous,” reports Breaking News.
Tusla solicitor Kevin Sherry acknowledged to the court that the situation was plainly untenable, reports Breaking News.
The teenager’s court-appointed Guardian ad Litem stated that Tusla was seeking an extension to the Interim Care Order while being unable to secure suitable placements, adding: “It is scandalous, really, in my opinion,” reports Breaking News.
The solicitor for the parents, Mary Cuffe, told the court that at a recent meeting with Tusla, the agency’s social care worker had suggested the family simply take their child back.
She said: “You appreciate that is completely out of the question as on the last occasion he was there, he destroyed the house, which they haven’t been able to repair, as they don’t have the funds to do so,” reports Breaking News.
Cuffe also relayed that the boy had reportedly told his parents that the previous two weeks had been the best of his life.
Judge Harris made clear he intended to monitor the case closely, stating the situation could not be allowed to continue, and extended the Tusla Interim Care Orders until 12 May, reports Breaking News.
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