A mother, whose three children are in State care, has been allowed only four hours every year in which to visit them, the High Court has heard.
The time spent with them would be curtailed to short periods at Christmas, Easter and on their birthdays, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys was told.
The judge has granted the mother, who cannot be identified for legal purposes, permission to challenge the Child and Family Agency’s decision to limit her access.
The children, aged four to 10 years, were placed in long-term State care by the District Court in October 2014. She was afforded four hours supervised access to each child per year.
The woman can now challenge the care orders and a decision of the Child and Family Agency which refused to grant her more access to her children. The agency said further access was contrary to the wishes of her children.
The woman represented herself in court and was opposed by the agency. Mr Justice Humphreys said she had made an arguable case on several grounds to challenge the agency’s refusal.
One of the grounds was the agency’s reliance on the alleged views of very young children as the sole basis for the decision to refuse additional access.