Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for again affording me the opportunity to raise this issue in the House. As he knows, I raised it several weeks ago, when he gave me permission to do so, as did the Leas-Cheann Comhairle subsequently. Since then, matters have got worse as opposed to better. Normally, as the Ceann Comhairle knows, if one raises a matter in this House, there is usually a hurried rush to make changes and to ensure nothing is happening that should not be happening. That is not the case in this situation.

The situation continues whereby mothers, in the course of their rightful entitlement to go before the family law courts, are being ridiculed, despised and treated with contempt, and are having their self-esteem and confidence removed from them to such an extent that they are now afraid to go back to the courts in case they lose. In fact, they know they will lose. They are losing all the time. The rule of law does not apply to them. Due process and natural justice is no longer available to them because in the confrontational system that now applies in the courts, there is a bargaining situation between custody and whatever else might be available or possible in a settlement.

We all know that people fall in and out of love. I am not making any complaint about that at all; it happens. It is an extraordinary situation, however, whereby a gentleman in the United States some years back coined the phrase, "parental alienation", on the basis that children should be examined to find out the cause of their dissatisfaction with one parent or the other. This is after a separation. There is a simple answer to it: there is a separation. It is not the same as before. Something needs to be done to help out and not make the situation worse, but that goes on.

There are situations where constituents of the Ceann Comhairle's and mine have been put in cells while going through the process and their future was discussed in their absence. That is an amazing situation in a democracy. There have been situations where children have been taken away in the middle of the night, placed in very doubtful custody circumstances and locations, and where cases of sexual violence, and attacks made on that basis, have been subsequently brought to the attention of the institutions concerned. This is an appalling situation. It is particularly appalling in the context of the veil of secrecy and the veil of thein camerarule that protects everybody involved and nobody can ask questions about it. As the Ceann Comhairle knows, he allowed Members to raise questions about this, thankfully. I identified some of the chief conspirators, as I call them, in this particular situation. It is not them exclusively; more than one institution is involved. The fact remains, however, that women who are mothers are being treated despicably in the first place and children are being treated with absolute contempt when, for example, gardaí were ordered to go into a school, remove the children from the classroom, and place them in the custody of the other party.

This is not one occurrence but several. It continues to be the case that a parent is not allowed to rebut the allegation made against her in court. I presume it is because she is a woman. The system is so overbearing insofar as women are concerned. We thought that, down through the years, we had produced legislation in this House to protect women and children. We did so but that protection is not happening. It has now been brought to public attention again.

I thank the Minister for Justice, Deputy McEntee, for bringing in new rules for the conduct of cases. That is important but we need to deal with the particular issue that prevails at this time and the victims of it.

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