Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Again, on behalf of the Minister for Justice, I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. In addition to the progress previously outlined, she recently held a public consultation on the topic of parental alienation, which provided a valuable opportunity for stakeholders and citizens to express their views on this complex issue and inform her Department’s thinking on whether any legislative and policy changes may be required. All views, opinions and experiences submitted as part of this consultation have been welcomed and those responses received are under review. The Department of Justice has arranged for a separate strand of independent research on parental alienation to be carried out. The Minister is pleased to say a draft report has been received by the Department and is being reviewed. It is expected that both the research and the consultation will create a deeper understanding of the issue and inform the Department's consideration on policy on law in this area. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, expects the report outlining the outcome of the research and consultation process towards the end of the year.

The Deputy referred to the voice of the child. We had a referendum on this and the voice of the child has to be taken into consideration at all times. I am delighted to say my colleague, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, has this work done in relation to parental alienation. While today the Deputy talks about the mother, in a lot of cases it is the experience of the father as well who finds himself in that similar position. We have to have the child at the centre and to stop weaponising one parent against the other to ensure they can come down heavy on one side or the other.

I welcome what the Minister is doing and I will relay the Deputy's comments to her.

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