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

Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin

I thank the Minister for being here today. I echo the support that my colleagues have expressed regarding this legislation. I also welcome our guests here today. Unfortunately, having grown up in Finglas, I am sadly acquainted with the horror of murder within the family unit and the profound violation it is of all that we hold to be the social and ethical contract between people, especially its impact on children, who are the most vulnerable. Given the issues we have on this island with violence against women, gender-based violence and domestic violence, it strikes me that we have a very high rate of incidence. Often, the perpetrator is an intimate partner of the person who is targeted in this way. It reminds me of that expression – I do not mean to be trite or facile – that we are taught to be afraid of the monster under the bed when, in fact, we should be thinking of the monster in the bed beside us.
This Bill is a great step forward and I welcome it. However, I echo what Senator McCormack said because it is a good point. We are taking one step forward but at the same time, we are taking a step backwards. I raise concerns about this new scheme for the appointment of guardians ad litem . The Association of Guardians ad Litem in Ireland, which represents 96% of those guardians, has expressed grave concerns and challenged this new scheme in the High Court. Previously, it is my understanding – the Minister must forgive my layperson understanding of this – that it was the court that appointed a guardian ad litem to the child. Under these changes, it is now proposed, that contrary to the Constitution, the first-named defendant is inserted as a third party in between the previously direct relationship between the court that appoints a guardian ad litem and the guardian ad litem . It provides for a legal structure whereby a guardian ad litem serves at the pleasure of the first-named defendant, rather than the court hearing the application. There are several other grave concerns raised in this case but I do not intent to go through them all. As a layperson, it seems extraordinary and perverse that the Minister for children would appoint a guardian ad litem , rather than the court. In my amateur interpretation of it, I question whether this violates the separation of powers between the State and the Judiciary, or the Executive and the Judiciary. The State, against which a complaint has been made, then has the right to decide whether that plaintiff should have legal representation and who their guardian ad litem should be.
It is also my understanding that this new national guardian service is about to appoint 65 full-time guardians ad litem , many of whom have come straight from Tusla. To me, as a layperson, it seems to be a kind of a power grab or attempt to capture and control the capacity of guardians ad litem to fully and freely advocate for a child, given that they serve at the pleasure of the defendant who can withdraw their guardianship at any given moment. As a layperson, I am disturbed by this. I imagine it is not in the interests of the legal profession either. I am sure there must be some considerable concern about this among the legal profession. If the Minister could address that in any way, I would be appreciative.

---

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