Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Do the witnesses think it would be a good idea for the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar Council or one of the universities to provide a specific course for GALs in order to ensure that they might have specific qualifications in respect of the work they do? There has been some discussion regarding the need to provide a consistent service and the fact that certain standards and practices should apply. I would be interested in hearing the views of Ms Ghent and the witnesses from the Law Society of Ireland on how this might work.

In terms of the regulatory authority, how would a complaints mechanism work? To whom would people complain? Who would adjudicate on complaints made against a GAL and the independent service to which reference has been made?

Ms Charles spoke about the experiences of children in court. Does she have any thoughts on how we might make the experience of being in court less scary for children? A courtroom is a daunting place for any individual let alone a child. Should there be special types of court settings? I know that I have gone a bit off topic by raising this issue.