{"id":420933,"date":"2026-04-28T02:13:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T02:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/420933\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T02:13:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T02:13:09","slug":"judge-warns-of-fatal-risk-as-vulnerable-teen-waits-for-secure-care-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/420933\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge warns of fatal risk as vulnerable teen waits for secure care place"},"content":{"rendered":"

A vulnerable minor is at risk of fatally harming herself or someone else if Tusla does not comply with a court order directing the agency to place her in secure care, the High Court has heard.<\/p>\n

Tusla, the child and family agency, has not complied with the order due to a lack of available beds in the State\u2019s three secure care units.<\/p>\n

Highly troubled and vulnerable children aged 11 to 17 can be detained in a secure care unit, known as special care, on foot of a High Court order sought by Tusla.<\/p>\n

The teenager is one of six children currently without a special care bed whose cases were reviewed by Judge John Jordan on Monday.<\/p>\n

Just 15 of the State\u2019s 26 special care beds are operating due to serious challenges faced by Tusla in recruiting and retaining special care staff. Seven staff are needed for each bed.<\/p>\n

Donal \u00d3 Muircheartaigh, barrister for the child\u2019s court-appointed advocate, said the child\u2019s circumstances had become \u201ceven worse\u201d since the court was last apprised of her case.<\/p>\n

Counsel said that the minor \u2013 who has made multiple suicide attempts \u2013 was found carrying a Stanley knife on her person recently. She is to face criminal charges over this under weapons and firearms legislation, the court heard.<\/p>\n

\u00d3 Muircheartaigh said that the child is reported to have made concerning statements recently, to the effect that \u201cif she doesn\u2019t kill herself, she will kill someone else\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said it was \u201cvery, very clear\u201d that if she was not placed in secure care as soon as possible, there was a real risk that \u201csomeone\u2026 will die\u201d.<\/p>\n

The minor, \u201cdesperately, fervently\u201d wants to be in secure care, counsel submitted.<\/p>\n

The judge said he wanted the order directing the minor to be placed in secure care to be complied.<\/p>\n

He echoed \u00d3 Muircheartaigh\u2019s submission: \u201cUnless this child is placed immediately in special care in accordance with the special care order, there could well be\u2026 a fatality, or more than one.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the case of a teenager in secure care for over a year, the judge granted lawyers for Tusla a seven-week extension of the order detaining her.<\/p>\n

Shane Costelloe, barrister for Tusla, appearing with Sarah McKechnie, sought the extension in circumstances where a step-down placement had been identified for the teenager.<\/p>\n

Counsel said the placement was contingent on two other children leaving the placement, but added that Tusla didn\u2019t envision this would cause difficulty.<\/p>\n

With the current order set to expire this week, Costelloe sought the extension to allow for the transition to the ear-marked step-down placement.<\/p>\n

Maeve Cox, barrister for the minor\u2019s grandmother, said her client opposed the extension, in circumstances where she believed the detention in secure care was no longer benefiting her.<\/p>\n

Counsel also argued that the statutory criteria for detaining a minor in special care were no longer met.<\/p>\n

Alan Brady, for the teenager\u2019s court-appointed advocate, said his client was not opposing the extension \u201cwith a heavy heart\u201d, noting that his client\u2019s position for months has been that a step-down placement is required.<\/p>\n

The judge referred to a letter before the court outlining the minor’s desire to move on from secure care.<\/p>\n

He noted the minor’s view that had she not been placed in a special emergency arrangement (SEA) after a prior stint in secure care, her current placement in secure care would not have been necessary.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings got really bad when I was in the SEA,\u201d she said, according to the letter.<\/p>\n

SEAs are privately provided placements in rented apartments, holiday lets, or hotel rooms, often utilised by Tusla to house children in its care. They are neither compliant with legislation nor inspected by the health watchdog Hiqa.<\/p>\n

Ruling on the case, the judge stated that Tusla\u2019s difficulty in finding appropriate placements for young people transitioning out of secure care was a \u201cperennial\u201d problem.<\/p>\n

He noted that a placement had been identified, albeit dependent on the discharge of other minors from that facility.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Daughter<\/p>\n

Ireland<\/p>\n

Daughter of Noel Kirwan calls Kinahan gang lieutenant \u2018stupid\u2019<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The judge said he believed the teenager \u201chas one chance\u201d to transition out of secure care.<\/p>\n

That transition needs to be carefully planned, and needs to occur at a relaxed pace \u2013 otherwise, her progress in secure care is likely to be \u201cput at nought\u201d, the judge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth of the situation is that [the teenager] needs a slow and carefully planned transition to an appropriate placement. That is necessary in the interests of her welfare,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n

In those circumstances, the judge extended the secure care order for seven weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A vulnerable minor is at risk of fatally harming herself or someone else if Tusla does not comply…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420934,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-420933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}