Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We took a different approach to the development of the legislation. We decided that, instead of repealing the guardianship Act, we would amend it in this Bill in the way that has been outlined. That different approach had implications for other sections of the Bill and some of these definitions. My legal advice was that no new definition was required or advisable in our approach to the Bill.

This is a contentious area in the courts. A number of broader points were made by Deputies in the course of the Second Stage debate. In light of the new initiatives contained in the Bill, many Deputies made the point that how children and families were dealt with in the court system needed to be improved and court welfare services for parents needed to be developed.

I take the Deputy's point on the definitions of "access" and "custody". The decision to amend rather than repeal was taken. This is a large Bill and has involved a significant amount of work. I wish to take this opportunity to thank the Attorney General and all of her staff who have been working on it for months on end to address the range of issues it encompasses. While I take the Deputy's suggestion about including further definitions, it was decided to amend rather than repeal, and my advice was that the concepts of access and custody were well understood in the context of the 1964 Act.