Guardians Ad Litem
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-23
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Norma Foley (FF), Kerry

The guardian ad litem national service has now been established following commencement of the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022. This signifies a major step forward in delivering a high-quality, consistent service for children, grounded in children’s rights. There is a 12-month transition period for existing guardians, as set out in the legislation. This means that the GALs already appointed by the courts can continue in their current roles. Of the 107 guardians currently practising, 95 guardians ad litem applied and were successful in their application to avail of the transitional arrangements. This means that they may continue as appointed guardians from 23 June 2026 for 12 months, as set out in the legislation. All of these continuing appointments have been subject to updated checks. This is to ensure that the best interests of all children requiring a guardian are the focus of such measures, as intended by the legislation.
The guardian ad litem national service has received approval from the Department of public expenditure for 92 posts, with 65 posts allocated as full-time employed guardians. Recruitment for these roles opened in December 2025 and the competition was conducted in partnership with the Public Appointments Service. There was strong interest in the role from both currently practising guardians and other appropriately qualified professionals. Thirty-five of the current practising guardians were successful in the selection process. Five employed guardians commenced employment with the national service on 22 June. A further 31 successful candidates are at contracting stage, of which 25 are current practising guardians. A further 25 candidates are going through the clearance stage with the Public Appointments Service. The objective is to have the 65 guardian posts offered in place by end of 2026.
The guardian ad litem national service has engaged with existing guardians ad litem around the management of existing court orders during the period of transition. This covered standards of conduct and reviews of cases. Newly employed guardians will benefit from training on similar material at the outset of their employment with the national service. The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022 also provides scope for setting and revising standards and practice on the function, training, record-keeping and conduct of the guardians.

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Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-23/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-23