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Courts Service Statistics 2014

We publish below the figures for applications under the Child Care Act for 2014 from the Courts Service. This is the fourth year we publish these figures, and it should enable some comparison with previous years. However, the Courts Service has modified the way in which it collects and collates these figures, so direct comparison with previous years is not possible. On the other hand, we understand that this year’s figures have been drawn up according to a national template for the first time, so the method of collecting them is more consistent.

There is also a greater break-down both of applications and of outcomes, as detailed below, as well as the inclusion of new categories, which strictly speaking are not applications. This includes the category of “Review of Care Orders”, which accounts for 806 of the total number of matters listed in the statistics.

As the Courts Service itself points out, it is important to stress that the number of applications does not reflect the number of children who are the subject of orders, as several orders may be made in respect of an individual child.

In 2014 the number of headings under which cases were filed rose from four (Supervision Order, Emergency Care Order, Interim Care Order, Care Order) to nine. They are, with the abbreviations we are using in brackets: Supervision Order (SO); Interim Care Order (ICO); Extension of Interim Care Order (Ext ICO); Care Order (CO); Extension of Care Order (Ext CO); Review of Care Order (Rev CO); Emergency Care Order (ECO); Re-entry of case (Re-entry) and Other. “Other” probably includes applications made under Section 47 of the Act (relating to the welfare of a child in care, including access) and matters relating to whether another jurisdiction should hear the case.

The inclusion of the categories “Review of Care Order” and “Extension of Care Order”, which reflects the practice in some courts, has undoubtedly pushed up the total number of child care matters recorded, which was 9,864 last year, compared with 8,714 the previous year. However, it we deduct the number of reviews and extensions of existing Care Orders, the number falls to 8,660, slightly below the 2013 figures.

The outcomes published by the Courts Service this year also rose from two in previous years (applications made and granted) to seven, although one of these, “Bench Warrant issued”, almost never arises in child care and we have not included it in our panel below. The headings, with the abbreviations we are using in brackets, are: Totals; Granted; Refused; Struck out/withdrawn (SO/Wdr); Interim Order (Int Order); and Adjourned (Adj).

We also show the total number of applications dealt with in each District Court area, along with the total number of applications granted, indicating the success rate of the applications across all District Court areas, which vary. Apart from the national figures, we have not added up the total numbers in each District Court area which were refused, struck out or withdrawn, adjourned or the subject of an interim order, as this is evident from the figures themselves.

Where an application is adjourned, we know from attending court this is likely to be combined with an order being extended, as, unless an order is refused, withdrawn or struck out, it is unlikely that the application will be adjourned with no order in place.

As we have noted in previous years, the volumes dealt with by various towns of roughly similar size vary greatly. In some instances this may be explained by very lengthy and complex cases generating a great many repeat applications in an individual case, but in others the low volumes continue a pattern we have seen in previous years. This is particularly the case with a number of medium-sized midland towns, which have reported low numbers of child protection applications over the past four years. These are Athlone, Carlow, Longford, Mullingar, Portlaoise, Roscommon and Tullamore, with Bray and Galway also reporting a lower number of applications than might be expected given their size and that of their hinterland. There the number of applications last year ranged from 16 to 61 (Galway), averaging 37.

In contrast, towns of similar size, for example Letterkenny and Mallow at opposite ends of the country, had 368 and 231 applications respectively last year, continuing a pattern over previous years that never saw the number fall below 200.

There is an apparent anomaly in the Cork city figures, which showed an increase in child care matters from 617 in 2013 to 1,522 last year, However, this is explained by the fact that 712 of those were either reviews or extensions of existing Care Orders, Indeed, Cork accounted for 475 such reviews, almost 60 per cent of the total of 806 for the whole State.

National figures

Totals Granted Refused SO/Wdr Int Order Adj
SO 811 566 7 94 11 133
ICO 2,259 1,918 8 199 14 120
Ext ICO 2,003 1,807 0 140 6 50
CO 1,800 773 10 150 32 831
Ext CO 656 550 4 33 10 59
Rev CO 806 193 4 38 2 569
ECO 398 366 6 16 1 9
Re-entry 174 66 1 9 0 98
Other 957 320 17 37 10 573
Totals: 9,864 6,559 53 716 86 2,442

By District Court, in alphabetical order

ICO2321
2

Court Totals Granted Refused So/Wdr Int Order Adj
Athlone
SO 5 5
ICO 7 7
Ext ICO 18 18
CO 3 3
Ext CO 0 0
Rev CO 2 2
ECO 2 2
Re-entry 0 0
Other 0 0
Totals 35 35
Ballina
SO 19 18 1
ICO 6 2 4
Ext ICO 0 0
CO 21 5 16
Ext CO 0 0
Rev CO 2 2
ECO 0 0
Re-entry 1 0 1
Other 0 0
Totals 52 30
Bray
SO 6 6
Ext ICO 1 0 1
CO 9 8 0 0 1
Ext CO 0
Rev CO 2 2
ECO 0
Re-entry 2 2
Other 3 3
Totals 46 42
Carlow
SO 0
ICO 13 13
Ext ICO 0
CO 1 1
Ext CO 1 1
Rev CO 0
ECO 1 1
Re-entry 0
Other 0
Totals 16 16
Carrick-on-Shannon
SO 6 6
ICO 94 75 1 18
Ext ICO 5 5
CO 80 15 63
Ext CO 5 5
Rev CO 9 7 2
ECO 1 1
Re-entry 20 4 16
Other 16 1 4 1 10
Totals 236 119
Castlebar
SO 8 2 0 6
ICO 17 4 0 13
Ext ICO 2 2
CO 45 11 1 3 6 24
Ext CO 8 2 4 1 0 1
Rev CO 0
ECO 0
Re-entry 5 1 0 3 0 24
Other 3 1 0 1 0 1
Totals 88 23
Cavan
SO 7 1 0 4 0 2
ICO 99 79 0 10 6 4
Ext ICO 24 16 0 0 1 17
CO 122 7 0 5 0 106
Ext CO 14 12 2
Rev CO 0
ECO 7 7
Re-entry 7 7
Other 4 1 1
Totals 284 123
Clonakilty
SO 12 12
ICO 18 7 1 5 0 5
Ext ICO 0
CO 27 16 0 2 0 9
Ext CO 40 24 0 3 3 10
Rev CO 10 2 0 3 0 5
ECO 5 4 1
Re-entry 8 3 1 1
Other 19 6 0 1 1 11
Totals 139 74
Clonmel
SO 48 28 0 9 0 11
ICO 137 118 3 16 0 0
Ext ICO 41 28 0 5 0 8
CO 59 4 0 4 0 51
Ext CO 9 8
Rev CO 11 8 0 1 0 1
ECO 18 18
Re-entry 21 5
Other 25 16 0 2 0 7
Totals 369 233
Cork City
SO 243 153 3 24 0 63
ICO 109 93 0 6 0 10
Ext ICO 13 13
CO 218 155 3 4 0 56
Ext CO 237 184 0 14 2 37
Rev CO 475 55 0 20 0 400
ECO 46 42 0 3 0 1
Re-entry 58 20 0 2 0 36
Other 123 51 1 6 0 65
Totals 1,522 766
Donegal
SO 0
ICO 8 7 0 1
Ext ICO 24 20 0 2 0 2
CO 8
Ext CO 4 3 0 1
Rev CO 0
ECO 3 3
Re-entry 0
Other 1 1
Totals 48 34
Dublin
SO 78 67 2 9
ICO 160 137 0 23
Ext ICO 1,607 1,492 0 115
CO 123 123
Ext CO 0
Rev CO 62 60 0 2
ECO 50 39 1 10
Re-entry 1 1
Other 332 332
Totals 2,413 1,919
Dundalk (includes Drogheda)
SO 20 15
ICO 297 290 0 7
Ext ICO 24 24
CO 107 7 0 10 0 90
Ext CO 116 116
Rev CO 16 2 14
ECO 9 9
Re-entry 3 3
Other 106 49 6 9 0 42
Totals 698 512
Ennis
SO 17 15 0 1 0 1
ICO 53 48 0 6 0 -1
Ext ICO 2 2
CO 31 33 0 -3 0 -5
Ext CO 6 1 5
Rev CO 13 8 0 1 0 4
ECO 3 7 4
Re-entry 0
Other 12 2
Totals 137 124
Galway
SO 1 1
ICO 17 16 0 1
Ext ICO 0
CO 12 5 0 0 4 3
Ext CO 31 31
Rev CO 0
ECO 0
Re-entry 0
Other 0
Totals 61 53
Kilkenny
SO 4 2 0 1 0 1
ICO 8 6 0 2
Ext ICO 0
CO 9 4 0 1 0 4
Ext CO 2 2
Rev CO 4 2
ECO 0
Re-entry 0
Other 2 2
Totals 29 16
Letterkenny
SO 7 6 1
ICO 183 171 1 6 0 5
Ext ICO 30 27 0 3
CO 42 20 0 4 0 18
Ext CO 1 1
Rev CO 9 6 1 1 0 1
ECO 16 16
Re-entry 4 4
Other 76 73 1 1 1
Totals 368 324
Limerick
SO 60 25 0 6 0 29
ICO 110 64 0 13 5 28
Ext ICO 6 5 1
CO 167 75 0 11 3 78
Ext CO 0
Rev CO 31 2 0 1 0 28
ECO 9 8 1
Re-entry 7 2 5
Other 29 11 0 2 0 16
Totals 419 192
Longford
SO 2 0 0 1 0 1
ICO 3 3
Ext ICO 8 6 0 0 2
CO 17 9 0 2 5 1
Ext CO 0
Rev CO 0
ECO 0
Re-entry 5 2 0 1 0 2
Other 0
Totals 35 20
Loughrea
SO 1 1
ICO 40 2 2 10 0 2
Ext ICO 12 11 0 1
CO 53 4 2 3 44
Ext CO 2 2
Rev CO 4 0 2 1 1
ECO 6 6
Re-entry 0
Other 2 2
Totals 120 50
Mallow
SO 48 41 0 1 5 1
ICO 22 22 0 5 0 1
Ext ICO 10 9 0 1
CO 50 31 0 8 5 6
Ext CO 36 32 0 1 3
Rev CO 24 14 10
ECO 8 8
Re-entry 10 8 0 1 0 1
Other 17 8 0 0 4 5
Totals 231 173
Monaghan
SO 1 1
ICO 22 17 0 5
Ext ICO 4 4
CO 32 6 0 3 0 23
Ext CO 2 2
Rev CO 0
ECO 1 1
Re-entry 0
Other 18 3 0 3 0 12
Totals 80 34
Mullingar
SO 0
ICO 13 12 0 1
Ext ICO 2 2
CO 11 9 0 1 0 1
Ext CO 2 2
Rev CO 0
ECO 0
Re-entry 1 1
Other 4 4
Totals 33 34
Naas
SO 20 20
ICO 60 55 0 5
Ext ICO 12 10 0 2
CO 37 10 0 4 0 23
Ext CO 24 20 0 4
Rev CO 19 2 0 2 0 15
ECO 4 3 0 1
Re-entry 0
Other 9 6 0 1 0 2
Totals 185 126
Nenagh
SO 9 8 0 1
ICO 63 62 0 1
Ext ICO 11 9 2
CO 79 46 0 4 3 26
Ext CO 25 22 3
Rev CO 66 13 0 1 0 52
ECO 6 5 1
Re-entry 2 1 1
Other 13 3 10
Totals 274 169
Portlaoise
SO 1 1
ICO 17 3 0 3 0 1
Ext ICO 11 6 0 3 0 1
CO 1 1
Ext CO 0
Rev CO 2 0 0 1 0 1
ECO 5 4 0 1
Re-entry 2 2
Other 13 5 0 2 0 6
Totals 52 24
Roscommon
SO 6 4 0 1 0 1
ICO 21 15 6
Ext ICO 0
CO 9 3 3 1 0 2
Ext CO 3 1 2
Rev CO 0
ECO 0
Re-entry 0
Other 6 3 0 1 0 2
Totals 45 26
Sligo
SO 17 16 0 1
ICO 66 60 0 6
Ext ICO 0
CO 68 5 0 5 0 58
Ext CO 0
Rev CO 4 2 1 1
ECO 8 6 0 2
Re-entry 1 1
Other 13 11
Totals 177 101
Tralee (includes Listowel)
SO 11 6 0 5
ICO 15 15
Ext ICO 0
CO 21 20 0 1
Ext CO 55 49 0 6
Rev CO 1 1
ECO 6 6
Re-entry 7 6 0 1
Other 5 4 0 1
Totals 121 107
Trim
SO 0
ICO 40 40 1 0 0 11
Ext ICO 162 145 0 2 0 29
CO 14 14
Ext CO 9 9
Rev CO 1 1
ECO 28 15 12
Re-entry 86 58
Other 0
Totals 334 282
Tullamore
SO 3 3
ICO 6 5 0 1
Ext ICO 2 2
CO 9 7 0 1 0 1
Ext CO 5 5
Rev CO 2 2
ECO 3 3
Re-entry 1
Other 5 1 4
Totals 36 27
Waterford
SO 52 40 2 5 5
ICO 110 74 0 21 0 51
Ext ICO 0
CO 142 68 0 49 1 24
Ext CO 6 5 0 1
Rev CO 7 1 0 1 0 5
ECO 11 9 2
Re-entry 1 1
Other 21 10 1 4 0 10
Totals 350 208
Wexford
SO 82 55 0 14 1 12
ICO 311 268 0 32 0 11
Ext ICO 50 43 0 7
CO 130 11 0 20 0 99
Ext CO 19 17 0 2
Rev CO 27 0 0 2 0 25
ECO 24 24
Re-entry 0
Other 68 35 2 3 0 28
Totals 711 453
Youghal
SO 17 8 0 5 0 4
ICO 6 6
Ext ICO 0
CO 43 39 1 2 1
Ext CO 4 4
Rev CO 5 3 0 2
ECO 0
Re-entry 7 1 6
Other 12 4 1 3 0 4
Totals 94 65

Courts Service Child Care Statistics for 2013

Courts Service Child Care Statistics for 2012

Courts Service Child Care Statistics for 2011