Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 9 April 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

General Scheme of Children and Family Relationships Bill 2014: Discussion

10:10 am

Photo of Pádraig Mac LochlainnPádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Law Society of Ireland submission made an important point. The submission referred to this welcome legislative development and suggested structural reform should take place in tandem. It referred specifically to the commitment in the programme for Government for a family court system. This links in to the view expressed by One Family on the need for a court welfare system and the reference to child contact centres. It is remarkable that, as we speak, there are families who are in distress and separated in courts where civil cases are been dealt with at the same time. There is considerable stress involved. Unfortunately, we do not have a mediation Bill in place that would allow for mediation between families.

Some father's rights groups argue they are not given the same protection as mothers under law. In fairness, we have heard the analysis from One Family which maintains that many court decisions are not evidence-based and do not consider the domestic violence implications. Various parties maintain that the system is not working for them. That strikes me as an important point and I am keen to get more commentary on the need for structural reform of the court system to take place in tandem with other changes. We need a system dedicated to family law and not one in which everyone is in the same place on the same day, like a cattle mart. That is the first question.

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