Dr. Geoffrey Shannon:

Deputy O'Callaghan has raised a fundamental question. Are we going to be ambitious in respect of the new system we create? If we are, it may be prudent that we look at any constitutional difficulties that might arise. I have read the evidence provided by other witnesses before the committee. I am conscious we have a Children's Court that deals with issues where children are in conflict with the law. This needs to be considered very carefully. It is dependent on the model of the family court structure we introduce and if that is likely to be significantly different from the current system. I was looking overnight at what had been proposed in 2013. It was intended that there would have been a referendum in either 2014 or 2015.

The initial proposal was that it would be presided over exclusively by a dedicated Judiciary that was specialised and expert in family law. Much depends on the type of system we are going to consider. Is it going to be a system separate to other areas of the law? We have a specialised Commercial Court, for example. We have a Rolls-Royce system for that. When it comes to the family law system, however, which affects every citizen in this State, we have an impoverished system where we have the most vulnerable members of our society trying to access a system which does not have the capacity to meet those needs. I urge ambitious and fundamental reform in respect of this issue so that people most in need of accessing the legal system have the best system possible available to them.