Guardianship of Infants and Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Dail Éireann — 2026-06-17
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Matt Carthy (SF), Cavan-Monaghan

I move amendment No. 2:
In page 6, between lines 8 and 9, to insert the following:
"(8)(a) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (7), this section shall not apply, or shall apply with such modifications as the court considers appropriate, in a case where the convicted guardian was convicted of manslaughter and the court is satisfied that—
(i) the act giving rise to the conviction was committed in self-defence, or
(ii) at the time of the commission of the offence, the convicted guardian had been subjected to domestic violence (within the meaning of the Domestic Violence Act 2018) by the deceased guardian, and the offence occurred in circumstances materially connected to that history of domestic violence.
(b) In determining whether paragraph (a) applies, the court shall have regard to—
(i) any findings of fact made in the criminal proceedings,
(ii) any evidence of domestic violence, including patterns of coercive control, and
(iii) the best interests of the child concerned.
(c) Where paragraph (a) applies, the Child and Family Agency shall not be required to make an application under subsection (1), unless the Agency is satisfied that, notwithstanding those circumstances, there is a risk to the safety or welfare of the child concerned.
(d) Nothing in this subsection shall prevent the court from making an order under subsection (3) where it is satisfied that such an order is necessary and proportionate to protect the safety or welfare of the child concerned.".
In moving amendment No. 2, I am conscious that the vote on amendment No. 1 is probably going to be the only one on this legislation, which has cross-party support and will be known as Valerie's law because of the campaigning efforts of David French, who has brought us all to this point. It is appropriate, seeing that we are all in this House, to acknowledge David and his family.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-06-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-21T01:01:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-17