Children who were mistreated at crèche awarded €36,000

A brother and sister who alleged they were mistreated at a crèche, which became the subject of RTÉ's "Behind Closed Doors" exposé, have been awarded €36,000 damages.

Barrister Conor E Byrne told Judge Paula Murphy in the Circuit Civil Court that one of the children was secretly televised being scolded by staff at the Hyde and Seek crèche on Tolka Road, Drumcondra, Dublin 3.

Mr Byrne, who appeared with Michelle Loughnane of Mullalley Walsh Maxwells Solicitors for the children, said one-year-old Nora Casey had been identified by her mother, Carmel, being reprimanded in one of the secretly recorded television scenes.

Counsel told Judge Murphy the parent had noticed mood changes in her daughter, and in her three-year-old son, Joe, and had already removed them from the crèche.

She had subsequently watched the investigative documentary by RTÉ Investigates in 2019, into the alleged mishandling of children in the crèche, and had been readily able to identify her daughter being scolded and reprimanded by staff of the Hyde and Seek crèche.

Judge Murphy also heard that Ms Casey’s son, Joe, had suffered an injury to his lip while attending the crèche on Tolka Road.

Mr Byrne said the children, through their mother, Glasnevin-based Carmel Casey, had sued the crèche for negligence and the defendant, Hyde and Seek Childcare Limited, had made settlement offers of €21,000 to now 11-year-old Joe and €15,000 to nine-year-old Nora which he was recommending to the court.

Judge Murphy said the Casey family had suffered terribly unsettling experiences and she hoped the children, in time, would be able to erase such matters from their minds.

She agreed with Mr Byrne that there were some issues on liability in the case and the court was happy to approve both settlements together with legal costs in favour of the Caseys.