Mothers facing charges over childrens' truancy fail to show up in court
Two Dublin mothers failed to appear in court today on charges of neglecting the education of their children, aged 13 and 10 years.
The two women, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has been summonsed to appear at Dublin District Court.
Their cases were adjourned until a date in November but bench warrants will be issued if they do not appear in court then.
They are accused of neglecting the education of a child and not ensuring they were going to school. They face prosecution by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency (CFA).
A parent could be fined up to €1,000 and jailed for a month if convicted of breaking the Education (Welfare) Act for not complying with an official warnings about a child’s school attendance.
Under the Act the minimum school leaving age was raised to 16 years or the completion of three years of post-primary education.
Solicitor Fiona McNulty, for the CFA told Judge Anthony Halpin the first case involved a 13-year-old first year secondary school girl who has missed 50 per cent of days since the start of September.
Tusla wanted to ensure pressure was brought to bear on the woman, the court was told.
The solicitor said the prosecution was amenable to a short adjournment but a bench warrant will be sought if the accused fails to appear on the next date.
The second case involved a child, aged 10, and it was a “very similar situation”, the court heard. There have been attendance problems since the start of the school year but this was “against a backdrop of a number of years of poor attendance”, the solicitor said.
A third case was adjourned, however, the prosecution had been given notice that the woman would not be present because a relative had been in a serious accident.
