Guardianship of Infants and Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24
============================================================

Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I am pleased to introduce the Bill to the Seanad this afternoon. This Bill upholds a fundamental principle that those convicted of the most serious crimes should not retain automatic legal authority over the children left behind. The Bill delivers on the programme for Government commitment to examine proposals to remove guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners or a parent of their child. As I said in the Dáil, the Bill is not about additional punishment for a crime, rather it is about the welfare and protection of children. It is intended to protect vulnerable children from further trauma, provide clarity for surviving family members, and prevent perpetrators from maintaining control over the lives of their children.
I welcome to the Public Gallery in the Seanad David French and his sister Veronica, who have campaigned tirelessly for a change to the law in memory of their sister, Valerie, who was murdered by her husband seven years ago. Valerie’s husband still retains all guardianship rights over their three children. I supported Mr. French in his campaign and, since becoming Minister for justice, I have worked to change the law. There are other families in the same terrible situation. This Bill acknowledges their circumstances and, I hope, in some way ameliorates their difficulties.
This important Bill will give the State the necessary power to ensure the safety and welfare of the children left behind by such horrendous crimes are protected. It will do so in a manner that ensures their voices are heard and that their best interests are the paramount consideration at all times. The State must play a role here. Guardianship when one guardian kills another should not be regarded as a matter of private law to be determined between the families concerned, but must be regarded as a child protection and welfare issue.
As I said earlier, this Bill delivers on the programme for Government commitment. It is part of the ongoing work to implement appropriate recommendations from the independent study on familicide published in May 2023. The study was commissioned by my Department to analyse and present recommendations on how the State’s response could be more effective, in terms of response after an incident occurs and how systems can be put in place to learn lessons with a view to reducing future incidence of domestic homicides insofar as this may be possible.
The Bill ensures that, following the conviction of a parent or guardian of a child for the murder or manslaughter of another parent or guardian of that child, the Child and Family Agency will make an application to the courts. Tusla will be required to make an application as soon as practicable for an order that may remove or restrict the guardianship rights of the convicted guardian. My Department has worked with the Department of Children, Equality, and Disability to ensure the Bill is focused on child welfare. The role of Tusla in making these applications recognises its important role as the State agency with primary responsibility for promoting the safety and well-being of children.
Given the tragic and serious circumstances being addressed by this Bill, Tusla will in many cases already be involved in providing support to the children and their caregivers. In some cases, Tusla may be making use of its powers under the Child Care Act 1991 to safeguard the safety and welfare of the child in the immediate aftermath of the crime.
The Bill is a concise one but it deals with fundamental rights under our Constitution, including Article 42A, which provides that the State recognises and affirms the natural and imprescriptible rights of all children and shall, as far as possible, by its laws protect and vindicate those rights. The Bill will apply to both married and unmarried guardians. Children will have a voice in proceedings and the courts will ensure that the child’s best interests are balanced against the rights of a guardian who has failed in his or her duty towards that child by his or her horrific crime of killing that child’s other parent. Importantly, the provisions of this Bill will apply also to cases where one guardian killed another before the commencement of the legislation. This is an essential element to ensure that Tusla has the power, where it considers it necessary in the best interests of the child, to make an application to restrict or remove guardianship in the circumstances.
The Guardianship of Infants and Child Care (Amendment) Bill contains six sections. Section 1 provides for the Short Title, collective citation and commencement of the Bill. Section 2 provides for definitions defining “the Act of 1964” as the Guardianship of Infants Act of that year and the “Act of 1991” as the Child Care Act of that year. Section 3 inserts a new Part IIA into the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964. That part gives effect to the programme for Government commitment to remove or restrict guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners or a parent of their child. The new part contains nine sections. The first of these, section 12B, defines terms that are used. Section 12C is the principal operative provision of the Bill. Tusla must apply to the District Court within six months of the conviction of a guardian for the murder or manslaughter of another guardian of the child. This application must be made where the agency has reasonable cause to believe that the convicted guardian has failed in his or her parental duty to such extent that the child’s safety or welfare is likely to be prejudicially affected. An order may be made by the court that will be suspended and take effect once an alternative arrangement is in place, either a care order under the 1991 Act or that another guardian is already in place. The court must consider both the failure of duty and the best interests of the child before making such an order. An order may either restrict the convicted guardian’s powers and duties or remove completely the convicted guardian from office as a guardian. The court may impose such conditions as it considers necessary in the best interests of the child.
It is important here to emphasise that Tusla is required in these circumstances to make an application. However, it will be a matter for the court to determine the form of the order to be made, considering the best interests of the child. Section 12D provides for the same procedure and powers on the part of Tusla and the court in circumstances where the other guardian of the child has been a victim of a serious offence but has not been killed. A serious offence is defined as an offence causing serious harm, which carries at least a penalty of ten years imprisonment. In these circumstances Tusla may apply to the court for an order removing or restricting guardianship of the guardian who has been convicted of a serious offence. Tusla may make such an application where there has been a failure of parental duty, as in section 12C, and there has been a change in the care arrangements or guardianship of the child as a result of the serious offence. Unlike section 12C regarding murder and manslaughter, the provision here will be a discretionary power for Tusla, that is, the power to ensure that guardianship of the convicted only can still be removed or restricted in situations where the victim guardian has not been killed but is not in a position to exercise their guardianship.
Section 12E provides for the procedures for a review of court orders under this Part. Section 12F provides for the appointment of a guardian ad litem to represent the voice of the child in proceedings under this Part. This section applies the relevant provisions of the 1991 Act, as amended by the Child Care Act 2022. This includes a requirement for the court to appoint a guardian ad litem unless it is satisfied that the best interests of the child can be determined without such an appointment. Where a court has decided not to appoint a guardian ad litem , it will be required to give reasons for its decisions in writing. Section 12G provides for jurisdiction and the conduct of proceedings under this Part, which will be heard in the District Court and in the family District Court on commencement of the Family Courts Act 2024. Section 12H provides for the necessary safeguards in relation to data protection and data sharing. Consultation has been undertaken with the Data Protection Commission in developing these provisions. They will provide the necessary legal basis to permit Tusla to share and receive data with relevant bodies to enable it to perform its functions under this Part.
Section 12I provides for individuals to be made notice parties to proceedings. Any guardian of the child must be made a notice party to the proceedings. Any relative of the child may seek leave to be joined as a notice party and this is broadly defined. This section implements a request of stakeholders and a recommendation of the Oireachtas joint committee that family members be in a position to be made notice parties to proceedings. Section 12J provides for the retrospective application of this Part to cases where a conviction pre-dates the commencement of the provisions of this Bill.
Section 4 is a technical amendment to section 8A of the 1964 Act and Part 3 of the Bill, comprising sections 5 and 6, provides for a short set of technical amendments to the provision for guardians ad litem in Part VA of the Child Care Act 1991. These amendments are included at the request of Deputy Foley, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. They ensure that the policy intent in respect of the appointment of guardians ad litem and the provision to them of legal advice and legal representation under the guardian ad litem national service, which is in operation as of yesterday, is set out clearly in the legislation for the avoidance of any doubt. Where the guardian ad litem appointed for a child is no longer available or suitable to act for the child, in order to continue to meet the requirements of the court order concerned, it is an administrative necessity to provide in legislation for a replacement guardian ad litem for the child.
In terms of other amendments, I intend to bring on Committee Stage some technical amendments of a drafting nature to provide for cases under these provisions to be heard in the family District Court on commencement of the 2024 Act and a technical amendment to section 6C of the 1964 Act to account for the insertion by this Bill of the new Part 2A. Many details will merit debate, and I look forward to contributions from Senators.

---

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/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24