Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I compliment Deputy Madigan on bringing the Bill before the House. It is very laudable and I appreciate that it comes from her own experiences of dealing with family law and the emotional and financial strain that accompanies the process. It is very positive that we have a chance to do something to change that situation. The Minister of State’s points would indicate that the Government will substantially change what Deputy Madigan had put forward. It is unfortunate that we are not able to deal with that in detail on Committee Stage because our preferred option would be to see this pass all Stages so that we could put it to the people. I am not sure if there is a timescale for that.

I note the Minister of State's comments but our point is that there should be no restriction on time in the Constitution. It is that simple. Even a two year wait means that couples will still have to resort to a judicial separation in order to bring legal clarity to many different matters. By putting it at two years, there could be a situation where people have to go through two separate legal processes to achieve the same outcome. By putting the other stipulations, and we did leave them in, the other conditions are still there and we felt that they gave the safety valve that the Minister of State referred to, where people agree and want to part and they meet those conditions. No one will be forced into a situation where they would be divorced against their will or that there would be overnight divorces or anything like that. There are enough safeguards in the Bill already by keeping those conditions, although I was interested to hear the Minister of State refer to eliminating those conditions in their entirety, which would be even better. We would also be open to that but then the Oireachtas would have to legislate around that.

There is no reason for a waiting time in the Constitution itself. It is not a proper arena in which to micromanage social issues. Keeping a two-year waiting period will prevent any amendment to the divorce legislation that would alter that situation. It would tie the hands of the Oireachtas in that regard. Take the example of where there was a no waiting period in cases where one partner was abusive or violent. That is a common feature of divorce law elsewhere, including Europe and Canada, and our amendment would provide for that. We could have a six month or a one year waiting period in legislation if there is a danger that a no-wait time could lead to abuse, for instance in a case where there is a wealthier spouse who knows his or her partner cannot afford to go through expensive litigation, or something similar where one spouse would be able to ride roughshod over the other in legal proceedings. That would not require a no-wait period in the Constitution. Why would we put an obligation on people who are unhappy if they both agree that they want to sever? Why would we force them to be shackled together any longer than they need to be to have all the protections put in place? There will never be a provision for overnight divorces. One still has to go through serving papers, await a court date, have the court sanction that divorce and so on. A number of states across Europe, by mutual consent or otherwise, have no waiting time or much shorter times.