Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for raising this issue again. I would say I have heard him raise it almost a dozen times at this stage. He is very passionate about it. It is important to discuss the recently published report of the UN special rapporteur relating to the pseudo-condition of parental alienation in family law, wherein it was found that mothers and children are being denied their human constitutional rights. It is soon to be discussed at the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council of the UN. I convey the policies of my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Deputy Harris, who cannot be here for this matter due to another commitment. On behalf of the Minister I thank Deputy Durkan for raising this important matter today, and for giving me the opportunity to provide clarity on some issues.

As the Deputy will be aware, management of the courts, operational matters and logistical functions are the responsibility of the Judiciary and the Courts Service, which are independent in exercising their functions under the Courts Service Act 1998, and given the separation of powers in the Constitution. Therefore, the Minister is unable to comment on any individual case or category of cases. In fairness to the Deputy, he did not raise any individual cases. However, it may interest the Deputy to know that last year, the Department of Justice committed to undertake a public consultation on the issue of parental alienation as part of the Justice Plan 2022. The consultation presented an opportunity for individuals and organisations to offer their views and experiences of parental alienation, its impact and how it could be responded to in the future. It was a completely open process and concluded on 24 June 2022. All views, opinions and experiences submitted as part of that consultation have been welcome. The responses received are currently under review. The Department of Justice also arranged for independent research on parental alienation to be carried out. The Minister is pleased to say that a final report has been received by the Department, and is currently being reviewed. Department officials are currently working to finalise a report, which the Minister expects to bring to the Government for its information shortly. Once this has occurred, it is intended to publish both the research report and the policy paper on the Department's website.

The report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls, its Causes and Consequences, Reem Alsalem, which considers the abuse of the term "parental alienation", and the deliberations of the United Nations Human Rights Council on the report in the coming months, will be fully considered as work in this area is advanced. As acknowledged on the Department's website for the public consultation, there is no clear agreed definition of "parental alienation" in Ireland, and there are no reliable statistics on its prevalence. The concept and its understanding in international literature, its perception by the stakeholders who engaged with the public consultation, and the consideration by the courts in Ireland is fully explored in the research report.

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