THE HIGH Court held a special sitting on Saturday to discuss the welfare of three young people in the special care unit run by the HSE which has been at the centre of a number of violent incidents.
The court heard that gardaí had to be called to the care unit last week due to attacks on staff by at least one of the children, while another young person attempted to take her own life on at least two occasions.
Several of the staff have taken sick leave since the incidents while the Health Service Executive has been forced to temporarily replace them with specially trained staff.
Mr Justice George Birmingham ruled that key details of the cases should not be reported in order to safeguard the children’s welfare.
The court heard that an e-mail from the deputy director of the centre to the guardian ad litem of one of the children had raised concerns over the ability of staff to protect the children.
However, under questioning, the deputy said the atmosphere had stabilised at the unit in recent days.
Mr Justice Bermingham ruled that the cases should be reviewed later this month. He also made an order that one of the children could be moved to another unit if the need arose.
