A court in a rural town made a Supervision Order for six weeks in a case where the court heard great progress had been made by the mother under an existing Supervision Order. The mother opposed the renewal of the order, which the Child and Family Agency sought to renew for three months.
The mother’s solicitor said this had been going on for some time, and could not continue.
The solicitor for the CFA said that the mother had recently moved to a new address. There had been occasions when the CFA could not gain access to her home, and she missed appointments. The father of the three children in the case had been in prison, but was now out and was putting pressure on the mother, despite a barring order against him. There was concern about how she could cope with that.
The mother’s solicitor said: “When she was told to get a barring order she did. When he came back she contacted you. Things have worked out very, very well. She did all the courses asked. She now wants to live a normal life.”
Social worker: “I do believe she’s moving in that direction. I am still concerned about her housing situation.”
The mother said: “I have done everything they asked me to. I know I can manage on my own. I know they’re worried about [the father]. I’ll ring the Gardai if there’s any problem.”
In relation to her tenancy she said she had set up a standing order for the county council which included payment of arrears owed.
“You have made huge progress and achieved an awful lot,” the judge said. “I’m very impressed. The social worker is just saying there’s one tenth of the road to go yet. I’m inclined to agree with her.”
Mother: “People are coming into my house four or five times a week. It’s too much.”
Judge: “If someone came into the house once a week?”
He said to the social worker: “This is preying on [the mother’s] mind. I propose granting a Supervision Order for six weeks, with one visit a week. Unless something shows up on that visit I will terminate the order at the end of next month. I compliment [the mother] on her efforts and her determination in relation to [the father]. She has three young children and there are glowing reports from school. This is a good outcome.”
