The Child Care Law Reporting Project says there is a "striking" lack of consistency between social workers and the courts when it comes to dealing with care orders.

The project's director Carol Coulter says there have been a number of cases where care orders haven't been granted in spite of 'powerful evidence' - while in other cases, orders have been granted for 'minor' parental drug use.

In one case, evidence of six children "strapped in buggies for lengthy periods while their mother was drunk" and a doctor telling the court that the family's three-year-old was "the most bruised child she had ever seen" - only resulted in a temporary care order.

The Child Care Law Report Project has organised a conference on 'Child Protection and the Law' in the Law Society in Dublin today. The event was opened by Children and Youth Affairs Minister James Reilly.

Minister Reilly admits there is a need for a ‘uniform’ approach between social workers and courts in dealing with care orders.

Carol Coulter of the Child Care Law Reporting Project says that lack of consistency is her biggest concern:

Originally posted at 10.35am