The Dublin District Court last week surprisingly struck out a case taken by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, because the agency was found not to have legal standing to prosecute crèches under the Child Care Act 1991. Tusla was seeking to prosecute the Giraffe Childcare, Belarmine, Stepaside under the Child Care Act 1991 following revelations about the running of the child care centre. These concerns came to light on a Prime Time Investigates programme in 2013.
The reasoning for the decision was that as Tusla was incorporated on the 1st January 2014 allowing the prosecution to go ahead would amount to retrospective prosecutions. The alleged breaches of the Child Care Act came to light in 2013, prior to the establishment of the new agency.
Tulsa has stated that it will be proceeding with Judicial Review proceedings to challenge the decision handed down last week. Furthermore, it stated that the agency’s interpretation of the relevant provisions under the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 was to the effect of affording them the necessary powers to prosecute such retrospective claims.
It would seem that the thrust of The Child and Family Agency Act 2013 is to provide Tusla with the powers to ensure effective protection for children in Ireland. Other crèches identified in the Prime Time Investigates programme are currently being prosecuted by Tusla. The Act itself states clearly that functions of the HSE, Family Support Agency and the National Educational Welfare Board would be transferred to Tusla. It would seem that the decision of the Dublin District Court would leave a lacuna in the law regarding the regulation of such child services.
Rebecca Keatinge
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