Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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Despite the existence of Article 42A, the voice of the child is still not being heard. Deputy O'Callaghan has made the point that it will be very difficult to bring it about. It is a huge challenge. Under the 2015 Act, the appointment of a child's view expert is entirely at the discretion of the court. There is no guidance in the Act on what should happen in cases in which the court decides not to appoint an expert, be it for financial reasons or in the case in which the child is deemed to be able to speak for himself or herself. Given that the courts can be an intimidating place for children and that many judges and lawyers are not trained or equipped to speak to children in that setting, should the appointment of an expert be the default position in law rather than discretionary?