STATE SEEKS TO SILENCE VULNERABLE CHILDREN IN TUSLA COURT PROCEEDINGS...WHY?
By Susanne Delaney
The State, through Minister for Children Norma Foley, is blatantly seeking to SILENCE THE MOST VULNERABLE CHILDREN in court proceedings with Tusla, under a guise of "regulating GALs". There will also now only be 65 GALs compared to the current 96.
The extent of what they are attempting to do is concerning, and it is also not necessarily legal.
Under new rules GALs will no longer be entitled to automatically have a legal representative present in court for proceedings (which limits the voice of the child as there may be no legal person to convey particulars which would help a child to voice what is in their own best interests) unless Minister Foley personally deems it necessary.
She will also hire and fire "at the ministers pleasure." This would lead one to think the State is, ahead of time, sending a message to GALs.
It gives the feeling that they will be monitored, rejected and/or punished if not towing the line and as the State is ALSO recruiting its OWN GALs, this means they will no longer operate INDEPENDENTLY (essentially they will be working on behalf of the State, not children).
THIS DIRECTLY CONTRAVENES THE CHILD CARE ACT 1991, and so the State is, once again, flouting legislation to suit their own agenda.
The role of GALs was established under the Child Care Act 1991 and determines that the voice of the child is not only supposed to be paramount in court proceedings but they must be accompanied by a person who is not employed directly by the State.
The role of GALs has become ever more vital since the 2012 Children’s Rights referendum, which resulted in the insertion of article 42A into the Constitution. The reason is that the passing of this referendum (while propagandised as for the benefit of children) actually gave the state gross power regarding children(undermining parental power).
The association that represents GALs is AGALI (Association of Guardian Ad Litems Ireland) and it is chaired by retired judge Dermot Simms who just happens to be the judge that sent now deleted files to Roderic O Gorman in May 2023 (when he was the Minister for Children). Simms was a sitting judge at the time. He has criticised this latest move. I wonder, will Simms find himself out of a job soon?
O Gorman's department deleted 3 out of the 4 files sent by Simms, who was raising concerns with the minister about children under the "care" of Tusla. Deleting the files seemed to be an attempt to avoid accountability and limit transparency.
Simms, in a letter (sent to 4 government departments and several public bodies) said up to 130 highly vulnerable children were in “unsuitable” and “unapproved” placements, such as holiday centres, hotels and B&Bs.
HIQA reports have shown that children in these placements can experience neglect, abuse, and isolation. Some SEAs have also been found to be falsifying Garda background checks for staff employed to work with vulnerable children.
Pastor and African-non national Jossy Akuwobi and Karen Akuwobi, who owned Ideal Care services and received almost €10 million from the State, received no actual jail time for falsifying checks, despite a criminal conviction.
Pastor Gerard Chimbganda, also an African-non national, was found to be falsifying criminal checks. The quarters he had children living in were rat infested, and there was evidence of withholding food.
He went on to receive a business visionary award in 2024, and he ALSO landed ANOTHER government contract worth over €6 million euro to "provide care for" another vulnerable group: our elderly.
But, in returning to the issue at hand, the State appears to be implementing yet another power move in a bid to gain more control, this time by silencing the smallest (but most important) voices.
Unfortunately, because of the way the story has been misleadingly phrased in the headlines today, few will realise this is the case.