Minister O’Gorman welcomes approval for Bill to strengthen the voice of children in child-care proceedings
From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
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From Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Roderic O’Gorman TD, is pleased to confirm that Government has approved the drafting of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2021, which provides for reform of the Guardian ad litem (GAL) system.
The Minister is committed to addressing the shortfalls in the existing arrangements for Guardian ad Litems and to extending the current system to benefit all children and young people who are the subject of child care proceedings, as well as providing a service that is high quality and sustainable into the future.
The Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2019, which provided for the same set of reforms, had completed Committee Stage when it fell with the dissolution of the Dáil in February 2020. The Minister has made some changes to the 2019 Bill in line with stakeholder concerns.
The Bill will enable the Minister to establish a new national Guardian ad litem service within an Executive Office of the Department on an interim basis with a view to longer-term arrangements for the Office being made within the new specialised family justice system. The principal aim of the office will be to make Guardian ad litems available to all children and young people who are the subject of child care proceedings.
The Heads of the Bill will be published on the department’s website by the end of the week. Some of the main provisions of the Bill are as follows: