Dr. Keith Walsh:

It is, in practice, exactly as Dr. O'Mahony has said. The voice of the child is falling by the wayside and it is difficult for cases to be dealt with because of the pressure on District Court judges and on court listings.

To take up what Dr. O'Mahony said, this could be dealt with in a real way if private law proceedings mirror what is happening in public law proceedings. The court should state how it proposes to facilitate or hear the voice of the child in court at the beginning. The court should also state why it is not going to appoint an expert to hear the child's views. Legislative change to the 2015 Act or the 1964 Act is all that is required. Judges obviously have to follow the law. It is not a hugely difficult for this committee to make a recommendation for change in its report. That could be done and would result in the kind of situation where rights that are slipping by the wayside would be put front and centre.

The difficulty and opposition that might be encountered from the Government is that there is no doubt that change would impose real resource obligations on District Court judges which the Government may not wish to resource. Without that type of provision in the 2015 Act, it is only really paying lip service to the voice of the child.