Public Consultation on qualifications and experience required to act as a Guardian ad litem

The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022, which provides for reform of the Guardian ad litem system, was signed into law on 19 July 2022. The 2022 Act enables the Minister to establish a new Guardian ad litem National Service within an Executive Office of the Department.

The Guardian ad litem National service will provide a high quality, standardised service to children and young people who are the subject of child care proceedings. The core functions of the Guardian ad litem will be to inform the court of any views which the child wishes to express and to advise the court on what, in his or her professional opinion, is in the child’s best interests. It is intended that the Guardian ad litem will enhance the decision-making capacity of the court in child care proceedings.

Section 35L of the Act provides that the Minister may make regulations outlining the professions from which Guardians ad litem may be authorised and the qualifications and minimum levels of professional experience required to act as a guardian ad litem.

This consultation will build on the previous consultation undertaken in developing the General Scheme of the 2022 Act.

The Minister is proposing to prescribe the professions of social work, social care work, psychology and psychiatry in regulations with a relevant level of experience, to work as a Guardian ad litem. A provision for existing Guardians ad litem with a demonstrated level of experience is also proposed.

This consultation sets out the planned qualifications/experience required to act as a Guardian ad litem and asks whether the proposed requirements are necessary to meet the overall objectives of Guardian ad litem reform, which are to:

1. Provide explicitly for Best Interests of the Child and Views of the Child
2. Extend the benefits of the Guardian ad litem to the greatest number of children and young people
3. Provide an accountable, organised and transparent service of high quality that is sustainable into the future

We want to hear your views and consider them before we draft the regulations. Please complete this short online survey and share your views with us.

The results of the consultation will inform the regulations outlining the professional experience required to work as a Guardian ad litem in child care and child mental health proceedings.

A report on the consultation findings will be produced and published once it has concluded.

Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in responses. If personally identifiable details are included, they will be deleted.

All survey answers are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and are also subject to Data Protection legislation.

Directive 2018/958 of the European Parliament and Council requires a proportionality test to be carried out by Member States before the introduction of new, or the amendment of existing, professional regulations that restrict access to, or the pursuit of, regulated professions. The Directive was transposed into Irish law in August 2022 (SI 413/2022). This public consultation will contribute to the State’s assessment of the proportionality of the proposed changes to regulations relating to the workforce in early learning and care and school-age childcare services.

To view the consultation click the button below.