Court hears grandmother wants to become permanent carer of three grandchildren

A grandmother is seeking the right to be the permanent carer of her three grandchildren over fears for their safety if they are returned to their mother who allegedly suffers from mental health and substance abuse problems, the High Court heard.

Court hears grandmother wants to become permanent carer of three grandchildren

By Ann O'Loughlin

A grandmother is seeking the right to be the permanent carer of her three grandchildren over fears for their safety if they are returned to their mother who allegedly suffers from mental health and substance abuse problems, the High Court heard.

The grandmother took over the care of the children, who are of pre-school and school going age, in 2013, at the request of Tusla the Child and Family Agency (CFA) because of the daughter's neglect of them.

It was meant to be on a temporary basis but the mother had made no progress since then and had further problems in her life, the grandmother says.

The mother has had a fourth child with a man who has addiction problems and who has physically beaten her. The natural father of the first three children has served time in prison and until recently showed no interest in the children.

The grandmother wants the CFA make a court application for a care order to legally reflect her position as sole carer which is in the best interests of the children. She also wants it to provide for supervised access arrangements for the mother.

She says that under the present arrangement, there is nothing to stop the mother taking the children back without notice.

The CFA says the mother wants to be reunited with her children but accepts that must be on a planned basis as, she says, her situation is now stable.

The grandmother says her daughter's situation is not stable and also wants the CFA to provide her (grandmother) with a foster parent/carer's allowance because she gave up her job as a carer to move with the children to a country town where she (grandmother) has extended family support. As a result, the grandmother receives €298 per week in one-parent family allowance, almost half the income she enjoyed when she was working.

The CFA's alleged failure to respond to requests to make a care order application has resulted in the grandmother bringing High Court judicial review proceedings.

Michael Conlon SC, for the grandmother, said under the present arrangements she was finding it difficult to make ends meet and sometimes relies on another daughter to buy food for them.

She was under additional pressure because the mother had applied to the District Court in 2016 for guardianship and access rights but this was overturned by the Circuit Court.

The mother had made threats to take the children from the grandmother, counsel said. She also turned up in the country town where the grandmother lives with her boyfriend enquiring about places for them to rent.

The mother's brother, the grandmother's son, who also has mental health and aggression problems, has also turned in in the town making similar threats.

The CFA had "washed its hands" and had "not given us the time of day" despite being written to "ad nauseum" by the grandmother's solicitor, he said.

The CFA denied the claims and disputed that he mother would take the children back without notice.

Conor Dignam SC, for the CFA, said the court should be very slow to make orders compelling his client to exercise its functions in a certain way given, among other things, previous rulings about about the primacy of parents in decision making affecting their children and that protecting the rights of children must be proportionate in the circumstances of each case.

The case continues before Mr Justice Charles Meenan.

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