Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming in. It has been very useful for us. As I do not want to repeat points previously made, my questions might be a bit eclectic, but I ask people to bear with me. Following what Deputy O'Callaghan said, I wish to ask Dr. Burns about the in camerarule. His account of the chilling effect would be akin to mine and he said it impacted on his research. I have found that with people who come to us. We are restricted in what we can say about some horrible experiences people have had for fear of risking that person being found in contempt of court, which sounds utterly bizarre.

Dr. Burns said that legislation to clarify would help, which I understand. However, do we need more? The media have neither the interest nor the resources to keep an eye on the family courts. It is not attractive enough in selling newspapers for them to have journalists covering them. Is there not an obligation on the State to provide, not just voluntary research projects with people going in ad hoc, but a bit like the childcare reporting system in public law, some formalised State-sponsored scrutiny? I believe Dr. Coulter suggested something like that. Is that what we need to get the openness? Does Dr. Burns have any information on a pilot scheme she mentioned about some sort of reporting that was done in the family courts? Would it be a case of amending the Judicial Council Bill? How can we put structure on the change, more than just legislation?