Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 19 January 2017

Public Accounts Committee

Report of the Accounts of the Public Services 2015
Chapter 11 - Guardian Ad Litem Service

9:00 am

Dr. Fergal Lynch:

There is an important consideration here. First, there is an ethical issue and one of sensitivity relating to children who have been in care. They have been through quite an adversarial and traumatic experience. That has to be handled very sensitively. That is why we went through EPIC, the Children's Rights Alliance and organisations like that. We regularly and extensively consult many children about many things. It has to be handled extremely sensitively. That is why we did it that way.