Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I shall comment briefly. Family law cases are held in camera to protect the identities of the families involved. Deputy Shortall's amendment does not suggest that information be made available to the general public or that the in camera rule be breached in any way. There has already been a great deal of discussion on this. I was a member of the committee on the constitutional amendment on children, on which there was much discussion about the actual lack of reporting in family law cases. I understand the Government has committed to look at that issue. There have been reports by Carol Coulter both in this regard and concerning the difficulty that arises concerning the information vacuum on family law decisions.

However, in terms of what is contained in this amendment regarding notification of the Department of Social Protection, there is no reason, if the will were there to implement it, the in camera nature of family law cases should be breached in any way. Only the maintenance aspect involved would go to a Department and none of it would go to the public. The Minister may not be able to accept this today but from a practical perspective this is something that should be looked at.

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