Mr. Seán Egan:

I am in front of the Children's Court in Dublin regularly and one of the things that is really valuable about it is that children who are accused of crimes in Dublin go to a special court where judges hear these cases all the time every single day. Also, with regard to the people the court has ended up attracting, from the judges, the court staff, the gardaí and the lawyers who work there, everyone is working in concert to create an environment where it is legally rigorous and people who are found guilty are held accountable but it is a child-friendly space where people's anonymity is protected. It is a bit of a postcode lottery. If a child is accused of a crime in any other county they are in front of the normal District Court list. The judge will hear the case in private and they will be listed on the board outside the court with just their initials but they are still with dozens or hundreds of other people milling around and, occasionally, the full name does get said. It really does not fit the criteria in terms of the protection of the child's privacy and it is not a supportive or child-friendly environment. It is very chaotic and very busy. In my view it would be highly desirable to roll out specialist child courts throughout the country. I am only echoing the recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child that made this recommendation during its review of Ireland in 2023.