Frank Feighan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and I thank the Minister for the amount of work he has put into it. He is a reforming Minister. This is significant legislation and it seems to be uncontested because I note not one Member of the Opposition is sitting in the House this morning. If something was contested or if someone was complaining, they would be in the House howling about how bad and how awful it was. I congratulate the Minister on this Bill. He has the unanimous support of the House.

The amendment of the in camera rule in family law and child care proceedings is important. It introduces greater transparency to the administration of family and child care law. Most politicians have not spent much time in the Circuit Court, District Court or the High Court, and I am one of those people. Some 25 years ago I had to attend court to transfer a pub licence. It was an intimidating place at the time and even now it is intimidating. I had not been in court for 25 years until last Wednesday morning when I had to appear in a court in Carlow at 10.30 a.m. That was because, seemingly, I got two points for speeding at 62 km/h in a 50 km/h zone and I was caught on camera, but I did not receive the fixed penalty fine. Since I did not receive the fine, I was unaware that I had committed an offence. As a result, I received a summons to appear the court in Carlow at 10.30 a.m. That was fine, but I had to take a half day and hire a lawyer, although I had intended to appear in the House on the day. I was almost hoping that I might be arrested so I would have an excuse. Anyway, I appeared in court. It was eye-opening and mind-boggling. It was possible to see the structures of the court, including free legal aid, and many of the problems that we hear and read about from time to time, before one's eyes.

One thing struck me in particular. An inspector or superintendent was leading the prosecution from the Garda or the State or whatever. He was absolutely committed, professional, competent and measured. It was a joy to see someone there in court last Wednesday who was representing the Garda and the Department of Justice and Equality at the highest competent level. This man had put serious thought into his work. From what I hear he has helped to reform the way members of the Garda do their duty. I wish to put that much on the record.

With the lawyers and the judge present it was all rather technical and emotional. I was pleased to see justice being administered in a fair and efficient fashion. This is what the Minister must do. He must turn around an archaic system that is sometimes not transparent. At times, for all that it is transparent, we do not want to know about it because do not want to peel away the layers since it does not affect us until we have to appear in court. Thankfully, I was only appearing on a minor issue, but it was still an issue.

The appointment of two additional Supreme Court judges is important and I welcome that because there are delays in the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal. The amendments to the Bankruptcy Act and the Personal Insolvency Act are welcome as well. These are the times we are in and these matters can clog up the courts. Again, the Minister has made major advances in these areas.

I wish to make a point regarding the Courts Service. As politicians, we always ask questions. The Courts Service is autonomous and its officials make their own decisions. They have closed many courts throughout the country, including courts in my constituency. They closed a court in my town. I took the view that the criteria they used were unfair. One criterion used to move the Circuit Court to Roscommon town was that it was a newer court, but the new court in Roscommon town has not been built yet. The court is using the same facilities.

Sometimes we hand over all the power to independent authorities and that is fine and great. However, sometimes they make decisions that clearly are not competent or fair. As politicians and members of the public, we do not have any recourse to challenge the fairness of these decisions. Who watches the people who watch? If authorities want to make decisions, that is fine, but they should follow the laws and the criteria set down. They should not make decisions that impact unfairly on areas that need the Circuit Court, and if they are going to make such decisions, they should be fair, transparent and open to appeal. In this case, the Courts Service made a decision and there was no recourse to appeal. Although we met representatives from the Courts Service and discussed the matter with them, I knew in my heart and soul that they did not have the slightest intention of listening to all the arguments, which were very powerful.

I thank the Minister as well because for too long we have seen all types of legislation, but we are in a crisis. There is a crisis of political transparency and accountability as well as a financial crisis. In crisis there is always opportunity. The Minister has not been behind the door in standing and putting his head above the parapet. I congratulate him on the work he is doing. As in life, we all make mistakes, but the man who does not make a mistake does not do anything. I thank the Minister for using his office to try to reform a complicated and necessary system.

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