The Guardianship of Infants (Amendment) Bill 2026 upholds a fundamental principle that those convicted of the most serious crimes should not retain automatic legal authority over the children left behind.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “This bill is about the welfare and protection of children. It is intended to protect vulnerable children from further trauma, to provide clarity for surviving family members, and to prevent perpetrators from maintaining control over the lives of their children.

“Guardianship when one guardian kills another, should not be regarded as a matter of private law to be determined between the families concerned, but must be regarded as a child protection and welfare issue.

“David French and his family have campaigned tirelessly for a change to the law in memory of his sister Valerie who was murdered by her husband, James Kilroy, seven years ago. Valerie’s husband still retains all guardianship rights over their three children.

“The bill will be known as Valerie’s Law in memory of Valerie.”

The proposed legislation delivers on the Programme for Government commitment to “examine proposals to remove guardianship rights from those convicted of killing their partners or a parent of their child”. It is part of the ongoing work to implement appropriate recommendations from the Study on Familicide and Domestic and Family Violence Death Reviews.

The most important provision of the bill requires Tusla to apply to the court within six months of the conviction of a guardian for the murder or manslaughter of another guardian of the child. On this application the court may either restrict the powers and duties of the convicted guardian or remove the convicted guardian from office.

The law will apply to married and unmarried parents, to convictions for murder and manslaughter and in cases of very serious offences where one guardian causes harm to another. It may also be applied retrospectively in the cases of murder and manslaughter.

Mr O’Callaghan added: “Revocation of guardianship is not automatic, and the court will have discretion to take all matters into account.

“The court must consider many factors when determining whether to remove or restrict guardianship. The court’s most important consideration, however, will be the welfare and best interests of the child.”

The bill is expected to be published in the coming days, and to reach second stage in the Dáil later this month.