Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Okay, fair enough. I suppose we are revisiting issues we have already addressed. The issues Deputy Coppinger raises should be dealt with in other ways and not through the granting of guardianship, because we do not do that for married fathers and mothers or unmarried mothers.

There is another side to it. I briefly worked as a solicitor and when I was an apprentice, I worked on some family law. The system is a real obstacle for some unmarried fathers who would be good parents. It is an obstacle to go to the court. It puts a barrier in place that is difficult to overcome. There is prejudice. For example, there will be situations where in the case of a young couple with a child, the mother's parents think the father is a waster and the less the young mother has to do with him, the better. Sometimes, they change their attitude over time. There is also prejudice. One gets in all walks of life those who are good, bad or good and bad, but one cannot say a particular category of person is more likely to be bad.

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