Mr. Damien Peelo:

The Deputy has touched on another very complex issue. It is like peeling an onion, with all of the layers that have to be addressed in these scenarios. Dr. Shannon is absolutely right that the voice of the child and the best interest of the child is paramount in what we are talking about, but the systems in place to try to hear that are very under-resourced. Again, it goes back to resources. Definitely, a child's voice needs to be heard and their reasoning needs to be heard.

What we are interested in is not just that this is provided for by expertise, which is needed in these complex cases, but also that parents are given tacit support to be able to recognise what is in the best interests of the child. We would have heard that from both parents in an adversarial role, with both thinking they are doing the same thing although it is complete opposite, and both claiming it is in the best interests of the child. It is a question of how we get to learn and how we start to ask the questions of parents so they are placing the child at the centre of their decision-making.

A child might say for all sorts of reasons that he or she does not want to spend time with the other parent. That might be for absolutely legitimate reasons but once the matter is teased out, it might be found that a whole set of things could be overcome very quickly in trying to address that. It is complex, it needs to be resourced and time and effort need to be put into hearing that voice of the child and placing his or her best interests at the centre of any decisions.