Dáil debates

Wednesday, 7 November 2007

1:00 pm

Photo of Pat RabbittePat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

In this report Dr. Coulter says it is remarkable that the system works at all. She talked about it being shambolic and overcrowded, the lack of uniformity, court lists overcrowded, courts meeting late into the night and a number of other defects were identified and recommendations were made in 1996 in the Law Reform Commission report and not acted upon. I wish to ask the Minister a couple of specific questions. With regard to her recommendation that there ought to be a separate family law division of the Circuit Court, what is his disposition in that regard? On the issue of access by the press to the family courts, with certain restrictions as recommended, what is his attitude to that? In regard to the criticisms by the organisation for separated fathers who have the very definite perception that in many cases they do not get a fair hearing and do not get reasonable access to their children and so on, what is the Minister's view of the complaints advanced in recent years by that organisation? When he talks about the cost of access to the family courts, as he did in his reply, does he intend to take any steps in that regard? It is remarkable that divorce by consent can cost a number of thousands of euro outside of Dublin but many times that in Dublin or in Cork. Why is it more expensive to get divorced in the jurisdiction inside Chapelizod and relatively less expensive outside it?

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