Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 9, between lines 27 and 28, to insert the following:

"(g) the Minister has been notified by the Courts Services that an order has been made to require the surrender of any child's passport or to require any person to refrain from applying for a passport for any child so long as the order is in force.".

These amendments are designed to ensure that, where the courts have made an order that requires the surrender of a child's passport or requires any person to refrain from applying for one for any child, the Minister will comply therewith on notification. The Act does not deal with this problem adequately and it arises frequently in practice in family disputes over children when marriages and extra-marital relationships break down and when it is questioned whether one parent should take a child abroad.

Some aspects of this issue are dealt with in the legislation, but not adequately. My amendment is a constructive one to ensure that they will be dealt with properly. Amendments Nos. 16 and 21 deal with the same issue and relate to different parts of the Bill. Amendment No. 24 seeks to insert, "The Minister is notified by the Courts Services that an order has been made that a passport issued to a child should be cancelled for the purpose of securing the welfare of the child,".

Over the years, it has been my experience that, in cases of very fraught relationships involving children who are resident with one parent and not the other, all too frequently it is necessary for the courts to make emergency orders, either to stop a parent taking a child abroad, be it permanently or on vacation, without the consent of the other parent, or to stop a parent obtaining a passport when permission has not been granted by the courts. It is very important that the legislation reflect what happens in the family law courts. These amendments are intended to facilitate that and I hope the Minister can take them on board.

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