Children Act, 2001

Notification to health board.

59.—(1) Where the member in charge of a Garda Síochána station has reasonable cause to believe that a child who is in custody in the station on suspicion of having committed an offence may be in need of care or protection, the member shall, as soon as practicable, inform or cause to be informed the health board for the area in which the station is located accordingly, and the health board shall send a representative to the station as soon as practicable.

(2) Where it is not practicable for the representative of the health board to attend at the station within a reasonable time, he or she shall at the first available opportunity attend at the station to ascertain why the member in charge had reasonable cause to believe that the child may be in need of care or protection.

(3) The health board shall, where appropriate, exercise its powers under the Act of 1991 in relation to the child.

(4) Where section 61 (1)(b) applies, the representative of the health board who attends the station shall be entitled to be present at the questioning of the child.