Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 23 October 2019

Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs

Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage

Photo of Denise MitchellDenise Mitchell (Dublin Bay North, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will keep this brief. I am really disappointed the Minister has ruled particularly amendment No. 2 out of order. She gave her reasons for ruling amendment No. 1 out of order and then listed the reasons given for ruling amendment No. 2 out of order. She said that sometimes young children, particularly teenagers, may not want a guardian ad litem. We have covered that in that amendment, so she gave her reasons for ruling amendment No. 1 out of order, which we have covered in amendment No. 2. All children should be given the opportunity to have a guardian ad litem. I think we are losing sight of what this Bill is about. It is about children's interests. We all sit here and say a social worker can do this. A social worker cannot, and I speak from experience regarding the service of guardians ad litem. Sometimes children are sick to their back teeth of talking to officials, and they see social workers as officials. They see their carers and their parents and they are caught in the middle, but the guardians ad litemare their voice. I know this from experience because I have heard children ask, when they would not discuss something with a social worker, for such and such to be called because that person was the child's voice. The Minister is taking away these children's opportunity to have that voice.

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