Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this issue, which he feels strongly about. As he is aware, the courts are, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and the conduct of any court case is a matter entirely for the presiding judge.

On 16 November, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, published the first national family justice strategy and secured Government approval for the Family Courts Bill 2022, which was published on 1 December.

These are the mechanisms by which it is intended to reform how our family justice system operates to make it more supportive and protective when there are vulnerable parties, particularly in cases where there is a history of domestic violence. It will also make it more efficient and user-friendly and significantly less adversarial. The aim is to develop a system that puts the family at the centre of its work and that protects vulnerable parties throughout proceedings.

To support the legislative changes proposed in the Family Courts Bill 2022, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, established a family justice oversight group to develop the first national strategy. The work of the group was informed by a wide-ranging consultation process which heard from the voices of those most impacted by their experience of the system.  The strategy has nine goals and more than 50 actions, with the aim of establishing a strong foundation for a future system which is more child and family-centred, which supports and protects, and which is more streamlined and user-friendly.

As the Deputy may be aware, under the Government’s new zero tolerance domestic sexual and gender-based violence strategy, the child is recognised as a victim or survivor of domestic violence in their own right for the first time.  This will be an important link across to the family justice strategy, the first goal of which is supporting children and which includes as a priority an action to examine the role of expert reports in the family law process and make recommendations regarding their future application and function. This action will consider the commissioning and availability of these reports.

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