Ms Edel Quinn:

What we are hearing from the Department is that the intention behind the legislation is that it would be the norm to have guardians ad litemappointed but it would be up to a judge to decide that. What we are seeing at the moment is that there is a real variance across the country. In Louth guardians ad litemare appointed in around 75% to 80% of cases whereas in Galway it is down to 13%. It is really necessary for judges in courthouses across the country to apply this to a more consistent level to ensure that guardians ad litemare appointed and to ensure that the judges give reasons if they are not appointing them. That would hopefully help in that area.