Dr. Conor O'Mahony:

I am not sure I would go so far as to say it should be the default position on the basis of the point made by Ms Ahern that every child is different. Ideally, there should be a menu of options. If one is dealing with a 16 year old, he or she may very well be able to speak for himself or herself and it may be a better vindication of that child's rights to have him or her participate directly, rather than doing so through the medium of an expert. If one is dealing with much younger children, the communication barrier is more significant. My personal view is that it is more important to have a flexible menu of options than to have a default position into which every child is shoehorned. As I mentioned, because the 2015 Act speaks about the expert but not about the other options, it raises the question as to what those options are and how would they work in cases in which experts are not appointed. We know that there will be cases in which experts will not be appointed.