Ms Eilis Barry:

Taking off my FLAC hat, I used to practise family law and represented people who said their child simply would not go on access visits. The concept of penalising the parent when the child is refusing to go on access visits does not necessarily seem to be in the best interests of the child, on which any sanction has to be based. If the voice of the child was heard properly and comprehensively, breaches of orders might not happen in the first place. If we are to turn a family court into a place where penal sanctions are imposed or greater access is provided because of breaches of access orders, we might need a more comprehensive response than imposing a sanction.