Dr. Geoffrey Shannon:

I am looking in the direction of the two civil servants with responsibility in this area, who have done outstanding work, and on behalf of the Law Society of Ireland I wish to acknowledge the outstanding work done by the Department in consolidating 20 years of inaction in this area. It is important to put that on the record. I can understand the difficulty in moving from custody, guardianship and access, which derives from the provision in the Constitution. It is my understanding that perhaps the reluctance to move derives from the fact that under the new Article 42A, the terms used are "concerning the adoption, guardianship or custody of, or access to, any child". As it could create confusion, I urge the Department to reconsider this. We all understand what the terms mean, but in my view they are outdated. Using the term "custody" to describe the day-to-day care of a child is 19th-century language. There is a legal argument for retaining these provisions, but I urge the Department to err on the side of being progressive and perhaps to dispense with the concern around the constitutional dispensation. I acknowledge that there are difficulties in moving towards the recently passed Article 42A of the Constitution.