Appointment of chair to the Northern Ireland Guardian AD Litem Agency

The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety announced today that the Chair of the Guardian Ad Litem Agency has been retained for another four-year term.

Health Minister Michael McGimpsey has re-appointed Mr Jim Currie to the post, with effect from 8 September 2007.

Mr Currie was initially appointed as Chair of NIGALA on 8 September 2003.

Notes to Editors:

The Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency (NIGALA) is an agency of the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, which was established to recruit and manage a panel of persons from whom courts in Northern Ireland appoint guardians ad litemfor the purposes of specified proceedings under the Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995 and adoption proceedings under the Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987. The role of a guardian ad litem is to provide independent reports to the courts as to the welfare of children involved in these proceedings.

• The NIGALA board consists of a non-executive Chair, four non-executive members and one executive director. The executive director is an employee of the NIGALA.
• The Chair of the Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency receives annual remuneration of £6,609.
• Appointments to the NIGALA are made with the approval of the Minister for Health, Social Services and Public Safety. There are no specific qualifications for appointment. Each person is appointed on merit to act in a personal capacity and not to represent any particular interest or group.
• The appointment was made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Commissioner for Public Appointment for Northern Ireland.
• All appointments are made on merit, and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for the political activity of appointees (if any declared) to be published. Mr Currie declared he had not engaged in any political activity in the last five years.

Mr Jim Currie CQSW, lives in Greenisland. A qualified social worker, he has many years’ experience in the field of childcare and is the former Regional Director of the NSPCC. Mr Currie is currently Chair of the NI Advisory Forum of Sargent Cancer Care for Children, a member of the NI Youth Council and Chair of the Irish Temperance League.

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