Dublin District Court extended interim care orders for three children for a further four-week period, in a case involving a family of foreign ethnicity. The judge noted concerns about the delay in securing therapeutic work to support any direct contact between the children and their father.
The mother was represented by a solicitor, and the father was also legally represented. The guardian ad litem (GAL) attended through counsel.
Both parents consented on a without-prejudice basis to the extension of the ICOs for a month. The father was unable to attend because he was unwell, and his legal representative conveyed apologies to the court.
The father’s representative told the court that he had recently sent a letter to the CFA but had not yet received a response. He said the father’s access could not take place unless a therapeutic process for the children was put in place. This was not a parenting capacity assessment, but a specific therapeutic intervention addressing one child’s anxiety about meeting her father. He said his client had been unable to see the children for a long time and asked: “Why wasn’t this resolved two years ago?” He said the father was suffering as a result of being unable to meet his children.
The CFA representative said the social worker was currently reviewing the terms of reference for access and therapeutic work. She understood that the father was adjourning a separate access application on that day.
Counsel for the GAL supported the extension of the ICOs. She asked that provision for occupational therapy be considered for one of the children, given their needs.
The judge noted the father’s letter and the absence of a response from the CFA. He extended the ICOs for a further 28 days and recorded that the GAL supported the application. The judge also noted the request for occupational therapy to be explored as part of the children’s care plan.