Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Select Committee on Children and Youth Affairs
Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2019: Committee Stage
Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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The Minister again makes the point that the Bill needs to be read as a whole. Looking at the section 35 provisions from an Opposition point of view, there can be gaps geographically in the system at District Court level. In some parts of the country there is quite a robust service. Again, to quote the Minister, in the absence of a family court system where we are relying on the District Court, we need to try to buttress the wording such that there is certainty. Where there are gaps in the service, we need to buttress that service to ensure that, for instance, in this amendment, people will have reasonable opportunity to read the report. That is the spirit in which we are proposing the amendments.