Josepha Madigan (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome that and I welcome the fact that the witness acknowledged in his opening statement that the situation is dire and has to be changed.

The guardian ad litemservice should never be incentivised to support a care order. That was mentioned in the Law Society submission and by other interested parties. It seems to me that when Tusla is the payer of the guardian, looking at it from an objective perspective, it is very difficult to see the impartiality there. Could the witness explain that to us? It really goes to the core of this issue and we have to ensure that it does not happen in the future.