Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)

I, too, express my sincere sympathies and condolences to the family of Garda Kevin Flatley on the truly horrific circumstances of his passing. I attended Henry Street Garda station in Limerick earlier on this week to sign the book of condolences and spoke to the Garda chief subsequently to convey our feelings and thoughts to his colleague and the Garda community up and down the country.

I thank the Deputy for his question. The Department is leading an ambitious programme of reform outlined in the first family justice strategy, which sets out a vision for a system refocused on the needs and rights of children, who are central to many family justice matters. The implementation of more than 50 actions across nine goals contained in the strategy will lay the foundation for this reformed system. One will assist families to resolve their family justice issues in as straightforward a manner as possible.

The Family Courts Act 2024, which was passed in both Houses of the Oireachtas last November, is a key component of the strategy. The legislation provides for the establishment of family court divisions within the existing court structures: a family high court, a family circuit court, and a family district court. Judges who have specialist training or experience in dealing with family law matters will be assigned to the family courts divisions on a full-time basis.

Importantly, the Act contains a set of guiding principles for the family court system, making the best interests of the child a primary consideration in the conduct of all family law proceedings, operating in an efficient and user-friendly manner and encouraging active case management by the courts.

As committed to in the programme for Government, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, intends to publish an implementation plan for a new family court system by the end of January 2026. He has established an implementation team within the Department which is currently concluding a period of initial stakeholder engagement. This has included an interactive workshop at the recent Family Justice Development Forum, which provided an opportunity to gain further insight into the perspectives of a broad range of family justice stakeholders on the development of an implementation plan.

Alongside this work, preparations are in train for the construction of a purpose-built family law court complex on Hammond Lane, in Dublin.

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