Victor Boyhan marks the official opening of the Guardian ad litem. He highlights the role of the leader, praises key staff, and stresses the new service's purpose: ensuring children's voices are heard in court.
Guardian ad litem National Service announced
He welcomes the establishment of the new Guardian ad Litem National Service, describing it as major progress for children's rights. The service is designed to ensure every child's voice is heard and their best interests are independently presented to the court during proceedings.
Legal independence and standards
Boyhan highlights that the independence of Guardians ad Litem is now explicitly established in law: Guardians make their own professional judgments and recommendations to the court and must act independently when carrying out their functions. He frames this as a step toward consistent, high-quality support for children across the country.
Acknowledgements
He commends Minister Foley and officials in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for the initiative and acknowledges the advocacy of former Labour leader Senator Ivana Bacik for her work in this area.
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Thank you Cathaoirleach. Leader of the Siannidh, Gareth O'Hearn. I want to welcome you and congratulate you and your appointment as leader of the Siannidh. I want to welcome your family, particularly great to see your father here, also your whole family and your wife. I think we had a long chat in the count and he's a wise man and I can tell you he counted the numbers pretty quickly at the Siannidh Council. It's great to see you all here. I suppose it's important to say for the record that the leader of the Siannidh is a senior parliamentary role. It's appointed by the Taoiseach or the Tánaiste to manage the government legislative agenda through this house. Eola Murray, the private secretary to the leader of Siannidh, coordinates this primary government function and I want to tell you, Senator, Leader, you are very lucky to have someone at your side in the Siannidh's office and I want to use this opportunity to congratulate her on what is not an easy job in managing in a smooth way against all the conflicting interests that are running in an orderly fashion of this house. Today I want to welcome the official establishment of the new Guardian at Eidam National Service. This new service seeks to ensure that every child's voice is heard and their best interests are independently presented to the court in a case in relation to the proceedings. The official opening of the service today signifies a major progress in delivering high-quality, accountable and consistent ground consistency grounded on children's rights. Ensuring that all children in all parts of this country have access to the same high standard of service is a priority for us all. The independence of Guardian at Eidam is now clearly established in law. A Guardian at Eidam makes their own professional judgments and recommendations to the court and this legislation is caught explicitly states that the Guardian at Eidam must at all times act independently of carrying out their functions. Announcing this initiative today Minister Foley said and I quote the new Guardian at Eidam the National Service is a landmark moment for children and care in Ireland. At its heart is strengthening the voice of the child and ensuring that their best interests remain at the heart of every decision. I commend Minister Foley and her officials in the department for children, disability and equality and I also want to, because I think it's important to do so, to acknowledge the very substantial advocacy work in this space by the former leader of this House, leader of the Labour Party, Senator Alvana Batchick. Thank you.
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