Barry Ward (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister hit the nail on the head with what he said at the end. Much of the answer relates to the situation set down in law where there is an agreement between parents but that is not the circumstance I am envisaging. For example, if a child needs a medical or educational assessment or the renewal of a passport and one parent is simply not present, it is not a matter that the parents do not agree - one could almost assume that if a parent were present, there would not be a difficulty - it is the notion that a parent, in order to get their child’s educational or psychological needs assessed, requires the consent of a parent who may not even be in the jurisdiction. This is hugely problematic. The answer cannot be that they have to go to the District Court every time to make an application to overrule that. I am not even sure if the legislative framework covers that in circumstances where the specific scenario is where there is disagreement between the parents and, presumably, where both parents would be represented in an inter partes application. It feels like there is a bureaucratic block here and a scenario which has not been envisaged in the context of the legislation. A review might bring about a more functional system in relation to parents in these particular circumstances.

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