Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Dr. Barrington spoke about unmarried fathers having no rights, but they do in Northern Ireland. I presume it is the same in other European countries. What is the current state of affairs in that regard? She has said fathers' guardianship rights should kick in when they sign the birth register and argues that persons who are not married are being discriminated against. Do we require legislation to automatically fix this problem or is there a quicker way of doing it? Dr. Coulter spoke about pushing Ministers to go places, but if the delegates believe their job is frustrating, they should come here for a while. Things happen very slowly and the Department of Justice and Equality is one of the slower parts. Could work be done without legislation? We should bring forward legislation where it is required, but what improvements could be made without legislation?

Many weaknesses in the system have been pointed out, while the contributions have been very informative. We are learning more about this issue and will produce a report. As there are so many problems in so many areas, what advice would the delegates provide for us as legislators on how things could be parcelled up? This area is so diverse and there are so many parts it is a bit mad. How much could we do without legislation?

There has been mention of introducing specialist judges and better training. Surely there are some judges who are better at the job than others. Could they be identified? They could concentrate on the area more if the delegates want to see specialist judges. That would be in preference to waiting for this wonderful process to be put in place. Could we do things in that area to bypass the long wait for everything to be perfect?