Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I will respond briefly. I am conscious that we have some amendments to dispose of, and I would like to have the opportunity for them to be discussed. This legislation is very important.

The GALs provide an important service, but the big problem with them right now is the inconsistency in their appointment. I have seen the figures, and I am sure they were shown during the pre-legislative scrutiny phase as well. There is a geographical lottery in terms of whether someone can get a GAL appointed to them. That is untenable in the context of the important service GALs provide in childcare proceedings. There was debate on this matter in the past. This legislation came through in the previous Oireachtas but was not passed. I am very hopeful we will get it passed today, which will be an important step forward. One of the topics of debate related to whether there should be mandatory appointment of GALs. What we have done in the Bill is provide a strong presumption in favour of appointment, but this can be overturned by a written explanation by a judge as to why a GAL is not being appointed in a particular situation. The special rapporteur noted that there are some children who are 17 and do not need somebody to interpret for them, and who are very capable of sitting with a judge or writing to a judge and indicating their views. It is only right to recognise the agency of young people. The judge has to put in writing that he or she has confidence that the child can convey their views and how those views will be conveyed to the court.

In special care proceedings, appointment of a GAL is mandatory. As a result, that has been set out separately. GALs can receive legal advice and they will be enabled to do so by the executive office that we are setting up under this legislation, a special executive office that will streamline but support the appointment of GALs in all parts of the country.

I saw the piece on specific expertise and a named GAL being appointed. We decided not to include a legislative provision on that. We can look at it in terms of the guidelines on that point but it may not be possible to appoint X, and for the legislation to allow that could be problematic.

Like Senator Ruane, I am eager for that review to be completed. I understand that I should be able to bring the general scheme – the initial proposals - to Cabinet before the end of this year in order that it can go to pre-legislative scrutiny. I will engage with the team and see if we can propel that because it is very important. Again, it is a good piece of law but 1991 is a long time ago. We need to be able to make some changes to it. We will legislate for it next year and I will look to expedite that process. However, I do not expect it to be done this year as it is a comprehensive piece, so I want to be realistic.

I thank Senators for their support so far. I look forward to tackling some of the issues in the amendments.