Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 20 February 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

Reform of the Family Law System: Discussion

Dr. Keith Walsh:

To be fair, I do not see it as reluctance. If legislation is passed to deal with an issue, resources may be allocated to that as a consequence. The court rules are amended by statutory instruments, which have a different function. To make this work would require a specific and detailed family law courts Act. The publication of such a Bill would get all the stakeholders involved and substantially progress the issue. The fact that the committee is looking at this area has substantially progressed things. A significant number of new facts have come to everybody's attention in the context of this hearing, which is very useful.