Judge orders arrest of Dublin mother in case over children missing school

Tom Tuite

A judge has ordered the arrest of a Dublin mother who avoided facing court over her children’s chronic truancy record.

The Dublin woman could be fined up to €1,000 and jailed for a month if found guilty of breaking the Education (Welfare) Act for not complying with an official warning to ensure her two children went to school.

The Child & Family Agency is prosecuting her, but she failed to attend her scheduled hearing before Judge Anthony Halpin at Dublin District Court on Thursday.

The younger child is aged five, the court heard.

The primary school principal was present, along with school attendance officers, to give evidence, and the woman had been given legal representation.

Judge Halpin noted the inconvenience it had caused the principal and that the case was important, but declined a request to proceed with the hearing in the woman’s absence.

Instead, he issued a bench warrant for her to be arrested and brought before the court, saying it would be more likely that she would engage then.

The minimum school-leaving age is 16 years or the completion of three years of post-primary education.