# High Court Judge Highlights Critical Shortage of Special Care Beds Judge John Jordan warns that vulnerable children suffer due to systemic care failures. - **Source:** [The Irish Times – News](https://www.irishtimes.com/ireland) - **Published:** 2026-11-10 - **Topic:** [politics](https://brifing.si/c/politics) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/f5eeb7a8-6194-4406-8967-ac3218c3a1bc ## Success Stories Highlight Disparity High Court Judge John Jordan recently highlighted the transformative impact of special care on vulnerable adolescents. One boy, once frightened and unhealthy, has blossomed into an ambitious writer and artist. Similarly, a girl recovering from sexual exploitation is now thriving in school, demonstrating the profound potential of intensive therapeutic interventions. ## Operational Capacity Crisis Despite an official capacity of 26 special care beds, only 12 are currently operational due to persistent difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. This severe shortfall leaves four highly vulnerable children, who were ordered by the court to be detained for their own safety, without access to necessary therapeutic support services. ## Systemic Failure Consequences The judge emphasized that the success of those in care underscores the tragic loss for children denied access. One teenager who aged out of the system recently deteriorated after failing to receive timely placement. His advocate noted he faced criminal charges, arguing that the intervention arrived far too late to help. ## Ongoing Legal Contempt Proceedings The court is currently managing four sets of contempt proceedings against Tusla for failing to provide court-ordered special care beds. These cases involve children facing grave risks, including grooming into criminality, drug debt accumulation, and sexual exploitation by multiple adult men, yet beds remain unavailable for these urgent, high-risk situations. ## Judicial Criticism of State Judge Jordan explicitly stated that these children are being abandoned by the State while suffering harm hour by hour. He criticized the current situation as unacceptable, asserting that the problem is not without a solution and requires immediate, collaborative action between the executive branch of government and the child welfare agency. ## Lifting Privacy Protections To facilitate the ongoing contempt proceedings, the judge took the significant step of lifting the in camera rule, which typically protects the privacy of minors in court. This decision allows legal documents and case details to be utilized effectively in the proceedings against the agency responsible for the lack of beds. ## Trauma and Aftercare Needs The judge noted that even children ready to progress from special care require intensive support during their transition into aftercare placements. One boy, moved to a unit over 100km from his home, expressed feeling overwhelmed, highlighting the necessity for consistent reassurance to prevent these vulnerable individuals from heading in the wrong direction. ## Urgency of Structural Reform The situation reflects a broader crisis in the provision of secure therapeutic care for children aged 11 to 17. With the court actively intervening through contempt orders, the pressure on the executive to resolve staffing and operational bottlenecks is mounting, as the current state of affairs leaves children in extreme danger. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/courts/2026/11/10/judge-says-success-of-children-in-special-care-illustrates-loss-of-those-who-cannot-access-it/ — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._