A district court judge in a provincial city granted the Child and Family Agency (CFA) a full care order under section 18 of the Child Care Act 1991 in respect of the teenage boy who came originally from central Asia. The judge granted the care order until the teenager reached 18 years of age.
The solicitor for the CFA told the court that there had been difficulties in bringing the application previously as it had had no date of birth for the child to demonstrate that he was a minor. Since then, the CFA had made contact with UK authorities and had ascertained the teenager’s date of birth. The solicitor believed that the court had the authority to make section 18 Care Order in such circumstances.
The teenager’s date of birth had come from his own words. However, the CFA had not been able to provide the court with any further clarity regarding his age. The teenager had had no documentation with him to confirm his date of birth and his family had been unable to obtain any official records due to the current regime in control of his country of origin. He said that the boy wanted to be here in Ireland and that if he were to be returned to the UK, he had told the social worker that he would abscond from there.
The social work team leader said that the boy had left his home country some time the previous year and that he had travelled through several countries including Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia, Italy, France, and the UK before arriving in Ireland. He had travelled with a smuggler into this country and had presented himself to the International Protection Office, which had subsequently referred him on to the CFA. The teenager had stayed for a number of days in the UK where it appeared he had been in care.
He told the social team that his family had wished him to come. There appeared to be no reason why he had come to Ireland in particular. It was possible that the boy had an uncle in France. She said that the family had had issues with the governing regime in his home country and that her concern was that if he was returned to the UK, he would go missing and would be more at risk. An Garda Siochana had had no involvement with the case.
She said that both the CFA and the UK authorities were satisfied that the boy was indeed a minor. A psychosocial assessment supported this, indicating that he presented as a 14 to 15-year-old. The guardian ad litem (GAL) had also confirmed his satisfaction with the minor’s age.
The judge granted the full care order until the teenager turned 18 years of age. He made the standard directions regarding re-entry and scheduled a care order review for December 2025, when aftercare planning would also be considered. He directed that the GAL remain appointed until the review date in order to help address some outstanding matters. In particular, the teenager was in need of medical attention and had reported some health issues to the CFA.