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Amendment of section 26 of Principal Act.
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13.— Section 26 (as amended by the Act of 2004) of the Principal Act is amended—
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(a) in subsection (1), by inserting “, IVA (as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011)” after “Part IV”,
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(b) in subsection (2), by inserting “reasonably” after “Any costs”,
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(c) by inserting the following subsections after subsection (2):
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“(2A) Where the court makes an appointment under subsection (1) (as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011), without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the court shall give directions relating to the service of documents for the proceedings concerned on the guardian ad litem.
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(2B) A guardian ad litem shall for the purpose of the proceedings for which he or she is appointed promote the best interests of the child concerned and convey the views of that child to the court, in so far as is practicable, having regard to the age and understanding of the child.
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(2C) Where the court makes an appointment under subsection (1) (as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011)—
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(a) the guardian ad litem concerned may instruct a solicitor to represent him or her in respect of those proceedings and, if necessary, having regard to the circumstances of the case, may instruct counsel in respect of those proceedings, and
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(b) where a guardian ad litem instructs a solicitor or counsel or both pursuant to paragraph (a), the costs and expenses reasonably incurred for that purpose shall be paid by the Health Service Executive and the Health Service Executive may apply to the court to have the amount of any such costs or expenses measured or taxed.”,
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(d) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (3):
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“(3A) The court may, on the application to it of the Health Service Executive, order any other party to the proceedings in question to pay to the Health Service Executive any costs or expenses payable by the Health Service Executive under subsection (2C).”,
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and
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(e) by inserting the following subsection after subsection (4):
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“(5) In this section, where the proceedings are proceedings under Part IVA (as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act 2011), ‘court’ means the High Court.”.
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