Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have had regard to public interventions. In one case, a solicitor of long standing who is operating in Cork, Mr. Colm Roberts, is on the public record as part of process of interrogating and examining the role of guardians ad litem. He stated in a recent presentation:

In 2009 I raised my concern in another child care case before the District Court in Cork as I believed that as a legal advisor for parents, I was at a disadvantage in cases where the extent and role of the Gal was unclear, and particularly the extent and role of his/her legal representation was even more unsettling as it seemed to move the Gal into a more adversarial role.

This particularly became more acute in circumstances where the Gal was supporting the application for Care Orders by the Child & Family Agency (previously HSE). This is very problematic for the Court to balance the right of the Gal to fully participate in proceedings that he/she has been appointed in and at the same time ensure that natural justice and fairness to all parties is protected and vindicated. This issue was dealt with in detail [in] a judgment by District judge Mitchell.

In putting forward the amendment to delete, we want to strike a balance between the presumption in favour of the appointment of the guardian ad litemand the discretion of the District Court in the absence of a fully fledged family courts infrastructure, while seeking to give a voice to the guardian ad litem, which is the voice of the child before the court. I do not see what is so injurious about our intention to delete these lines. I am not a lawyer and I have never been a witness before a court, in particular proceedings before the family courts, so I am a layman in this respect. We are seeking to ensure that voice is absolutely robust in the absence of there being a fully fledged family courts infrastructure. Again, this goes back to the geographical disparities that exist between certain parties where, without being disrespectful to District Court judges, not every District Court judge has the training in respect of these types of cases that come before them. Is there a formula of words that would copperfasten the importance of the role of the guardian ad litemwithout necessarily calling for them not to be a party? The Minister would say that is in other sections and is already inherent within the legislation.

We are effectively trying a belt and braces approach but I have an open mind about how the Minister might respond to that.