Tusla privately paid a criminal defence solicitor to represent “one of the most vulnerable children in the country” as the boy could not access representation due to the ongoing legal-aid solicitors’ strike.
Dublin District Children’s Court heard on Wednesday that the boy, who “had a very difficult upbringing”, would have been sent to Oberstown Children Detention Campus at a previous court sitting, had he been represented by a solicitor.
He was instead released on continuing bail and repeatedly breached his bail conditions. Last weekend he was arrested and charged with a number of offences outside Dublin.
Solicitor Eoghan O’Sullivan of Powderly Solicitors told Judge Shalom Binchy it was the first time the boy had a solicitor as part of the court proceedings.
He said: “Given the level of concern that his care staff and Tusla have for his wellbeing, and that he couldn’t access a solicitor at present, particularly one with the required expertise in juvenile justice, they decided to cover his legal fees in relation to this matter.”
O’Sullivan had withdrawn his services from the legal aid panel as part of the solicitors’ dispute over legal fees for criminal legal aid cases.
Tusla said “in its role as a prudent parent for children in care”, the agency would retain a solicitor “on behalf of the young person where none is otherwise available due to the withdrawal of services by solicitors”.
It added: “Any decision [on] whether to fund a solicitor on a private basis for a young person in care is made by the relevant social work department.”
Garda Brendan Fahy of Store Street told the court he had observed the boy at the end of June in Dublin city centre.
Having established he was missing from his care placement, he searched the boy and found a scissors blade and a small quantity of cocaine, valued at about €10, on his person.
He was charged and released on bail with conditions including a 9pm to 7am curfew and that he stay out of Dublin city centre. Since then, he has gone missing from care on 22 occasions and been in the city centre.
Fahy agreed with O’Sullivan that the boy was a “pleasant, decent young fellah” when engaged with on a one-to-one basis.
O’Sullivan continued: “He is an extremely vulnerable young man, very naive, very innocent, his level of maturity is very low.”
He said the boy’s social worker and care-placement staff, some of whom were in court, were “doing their level best” for him, including arranging for him to begin a Safe Pass course this month to enable him to work on building sites.
He asked the judge not to revoke bail.
“[The boy] is vulnerable to trying to look for groups that accept him and that is why he falls in with the wrong people,” he said.
The boy accepted he had breached bail conditions and was “apologetic”.
“I think it has dawned on him today, particularly after the weekend, just how much he is at risk [of being detained],” said O’Sullivan.
“This is a young man who requires therapeutic help rather than punitive detention in Oberstown.”
The garda responded, however, by saying “with the escalation [in suspected offending] of recent times”, he believed the boy needed to be detained. He added that the boy was “a risk to himself”.
Having established there was “one bed available” in Oberstown, the judge remanded the boy until September 9th.