A father sought sole custody of his infant son in a District Court in the southwest. The court heard that the parents had lived together and had a son.
The mother had two other children prior to the relationship.
The relationship broke down and the father had temporary custody of the child.
He had been living with his grandparents but recently moved into his new girlfriend's house with the infant. Although the mother had previously been granted access to the child, he was now withholding this.
In reply to his solicitor, the father said that after his son's birth, the mother had problems in the relationship. Her other two children were looking after the infant, who had constant colds and nappy rash. He was worried about the child and enrolled him in a creche.
In early 2006 gardaí contacted him after two passersby found one of the mother's other children out in the street at 1am.
Gardaí found the house empty. The mother later came back at 4am.
Gardaí knew of previous incidents of this kind and had child protection concerns. A social worker from the HSE said he interviewed the children, who said their mother often left them alone.
He had no child protection concerns about the father in this case, but had concerns about child welfare issues as both parties were making allegations against each other.
The father said his wife was stalking him and sending him abusive text messages. The mother was alleging domestic violence.
The HSE had looked for a psychiatric report as they had concerns regarding the mother's mental health.
The social worker said both parties needed to get over their hatred of one another.
The judge adjourned the application for three weeks and directed that a full psychological report of both parties be carried out.
The child was to remain with the father until then and the father was to move back in with his parents.
The judge did not want the father's girlfriend to become a surrogate mother, and the mother was to have access to the child for four hours every day.