Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The legislation in January last gave specific definitions to the concepts of access, custody and guardianship. Those definitions reflected global best practice. I do not understand why they are not in this particular Bill. The definition of best interests of child and what we should have regard to directly reflects what was in the January legislation. I can only assume it is not in it because there is some reluctance in the Attorney General's office to change provisions in the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 which are completely inadequate. I urge that that detail be included in the Bill. It is in the best interests of children that it be included.

The final matter I want to mention is the enforcement provisions. Although I am not a member of the Oireachtas committee dealing with this, I hope to have an opportunity to say something more about it. The enforcement provisions have been seriously watered down. There is an enormous problem, where people are estranged, of the primary custodial parent, who most often is the mother, deliberately obstructing fathers from accessing children. They are using children as pawns, going to war with fathers, causing some fathers to have nervous breakdowns, and destroying relationships deliberately between children and fathers.

The provisions in this Bill about counselling and sending people to mediation, all of which were in the draft Bill, are absolutely right, but the courts have nothing of practical use they can do where we have the obstinate, obstructive, venomous, hate-filled parent who is determined to destroy the other parent, and the other parent's relationship. The heads of the Bill published last January had within them provisions, for example, to require the completely recalcitrant parent in certain circumstances to pay some form of financial compensation or to perhaps undertake community service. There were some meaningful sanctions available to the courts, which fall short of imprisoning a parent. I do not know why those provisions have been removed from the Bill.

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