James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to contribute to the debate on this reforming legislation. Like much legislation coming from the Government in recent months, it is a forward-thinking Bill designed to bring the Statue Book up to date with society in 2015. The Minister rightly summed it up when she said that this reform of family law was a "substantial and detailed response to the reality of family life in Ireland today".

It is a modernising Bill because, for the first time ever, we are addressing the needs of children living in diverse families.

The National Women's Council of Ireland recently described this Bill as a "milestone in the protection of children's rights in Ireland" and it was absolutely right. We are putting children at the heart of family law, where they always should have been. The reason we are only doing this now is that Irish families have broadened and changed in recent decades and are much more diverse than the type of family settings my own generation would have been familiar with. There are numerous types of family in Irish society today, including unmarried parents with children, parents and their partners with children and civil partnerships with children. We need only look at the most recent census data from 2011 to see that diverse families exist in substantial numbers.

I would like to quote a few figures from the census of 2011 as they highlight the varied nature of Irish families today. At that time there were 215,000 lone-parent households, and 17,000 lone parents were living in multi-family households. Some 66% of the 155,000 divorced or separated women were living with their children. Approximately 25,000 children were born outside marriage or civil partnership. There were 49,000 households of cohabiting couples with children under 15. Indeed, the number of children in households headed by cohabiting couples increased by a substantial 41% between 2006 and 2011. Looking at these statistics, it is as clear as night follows day why this legislation is needed. Essentially, we are addressing a number of key issues in regard to diverse families and their rights to access, maintenance, adoption, custody and guardianship. By addressing these key issues, we are placing a solid framework around the rights of the child.

There are a few particular aspects of this legislation that I am particularly pleased with. For example, I believe it is an important move to ensure that unmarried fathers become guardians of their children automatically. The Bill provides a clear timeframe whereby the father must have lived with the child's mother for 12 months, including at least three months after the birth of their child, in order to automatically obtain guardianship. In my view, this places a much greater responsibility on the father, and I am glad to see it happening.

The emphasis placed on grandparents in this legislation is also important. I have no doubt that we have all come across cases of grandparents being blocked from seeing a child due to a breakdown in family relationships. Unfortunately, hostile family break-ups can be a common occurrence, and it is not unusual for the grandparents of a child to perhaps lose contact or find it very difficult to see the child. What we are now doing is providing grandparents and other relatives with greater access to children when a relationship breaks down. Previously, grandparents and other relatives would have to go through a two-stage process whereby they would have to apply to the court for leave to make an application for access. Instead, we are now allowing them to apply directly to the court for access.

In conclusion, this legislation provides critical legal support and protection for children who may grow up in a range of different family settings. It also provides greater clarity on rights of parents and other family members. It is very comprehensive legislation and it quite rightly recognises the rights of children and families in 21st century Ireland. I compliment the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, on all her work in this area since she took over as Minister for Justice and Equality. I am delighted the Minister has sat through the entire debate. I watched from my office the Minister's presence here in the Chamber during the course of the debate. I believe it is very much appreciated by all the Members and, I am sure, by the public at large.

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