Bid to end adversarial childcare hearings

The minister for children, Katherine Zappone, pledges to ‘revisit laws’ so we can ‘do better for children’.

The minister for children has signalled moves to end the “adversarial” nature of childcare court proceedings with a proposed review of the Child Care Act central to reforms.

Katherine Zappone made her comments ahead of a conference today, organised by Barnardos, on the role of guardians ad litem (GAL), who offer independent representation of children in care proceedings.