Vol. 517 No. 4
113 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Health and Children the issues of concern relating to court orders under the Child Care Act, 1991; if he will give details of these issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9872/00]
Section 3 of the Child Care Act, 1991, provides that "it shall be the function of every health board to promote the welfare of children in its area who are not receiving adequate care and protection". In carrying out this duty the health board is obliged to have regard to the rights and duties of parents, to regard the welfare of the child as the first and paramount consideration and to have regard to the principle that it is generally in the best interests of a child to be brought up in his or her own family.
Section 4 of the Act enables health boards to take children into voluntary care, with the consent of the parents, where the parents are unable to care for them due, for example, to serious illness, bereavement or family breakdown. Sections 12 to 19 of the Act enable the Garda or health boards to intervene quickly where there is an immediate and serious threat to the safety and welfare of a child. Under section 12 of the Act, the Garda may remove a child to safety pending the making of an application by a health board to a court for a care order.
Under section 16 of the Act, a health board has a statutory obligation to apply to the court for an emergency care order, an interim care order, a care order or a supervision order as appropriate.
Except in a case of emergency, an intervention by a health board to procure a care order under the Child Care Act, 1991, is always taken as a last step, having exhausted all other avenues to promote and protect the child's welfare including the provision of family support services or access to voluntary care arrangements.
I understand from the health boards that in the small number of cases where issues of concern relating to court orders are raised that these usually relate to situations where children are taken into care other than on a voluntary basis. The Deputy will appreciate that because of the emotional nature of the issues involved in placing a child under the care of a health board, in such circumstances, there will not always be acceptance of the outcome of the court process. However, it is important to note that an order made by a court under the Child Care Act, 1991, may be varied or changed by that court or appealed to a higher court.
