Sir, - Kitty Holland’s report “Advocates for children’s rights in court threaten challenge to regulation service,” (January 31st) presents the proposed national guardians service as a threat to children’s constitutional rights. That framing risks obscuring a more basic governance question.
The current guardian ad litem model costs the State over €20 million annually for about 100 practitioners, yet operates largely outside the standard commissioning and value-for-money frameworks that apply elsewhere.
There is also a structural tension. If greater legal representation is assumed to mean better protection for children, the system naturally incentivises more litigation and higher costs, while those who generate that activity are not the ones bearing the financial consequences.
As outlined in the Gazette of the Law Society of Ireland the proposed legislation introduces national appointment processes, qualification standards and a statutory service framework within the Department of Children and Youth Affairs — measures aimed at regulating and standardising what has been an ad-hoc system rather than removing children’s voices.
READ MORE
At a time when Tusla faces acute pressures in out-of-home care, attention should be focused on strengthening frontline capacity and directing resources to what most improves children’s safety and stability. - Yours, etc,
Dr JOHNNY O’ROURKE,
Delgany,
Co Wicklow.
