Results 10,901-10,920 of 20,459 for speaker:Frances Fitzgerald

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: As I said at the outset, there was a good deal of discussion on this during the course of the Second Stage debate in the Dáil. Subject to some particular comments I want to make, I can accept the spirit of the amendment. These comments are, first, that the information on guardianship proposed in the draft subsection (5)(c) is specific in regard to a court application under the...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: What was striking about the Second Stage debate was that people spoke about automatic guardianship involving the father, and almost everybody who talked about it also spoke about exceptional circumstances in which a mother could find herself with respect to the father's role. For example, people mentioned cases of domestic violence and many called for exceptions to be made if the pregnancy...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Amendment No. 38 is a minor drafting revision and I wish to move amendment No. 42.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is right. I am not removing the cohabitation requirement. I am moving the-----

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It is in parallel. Once one has the statutory declaration, clearly one has the guardianship rights. There will be fathers who will not do so at that point. If they do not, then the other provisions continue to apply. The statutory declaration gives one the guardianship rights.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: To clarify, that is precisely the situation. Quite a number of Deputies and organisations working in this area have spoken about the need for better information to be available to fathers, for example, in maternity hospitals and when the mother is registering the birth, and that there should be information leaflets available advertising such information and very obvious things. There is...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: One cannot make a statutory declaration in the situation of a non-marital father unless the mother agrees.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: That is precisely what happens at present. The father must go to court where a decision is made. This Bill is based on the best interests of the child and a range of considerations apply, including the ongoing relationship that the child would have with both parents. My understanding is that the vast majority of guardianships in those circumstances are granted in the courts but not all...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: This is the kernel of the issue. There are very different views on this point. Some jurisdictions have automatic guardianship for non-marital fathers while others do not. Other jurisdictions use a variety of criteria or mechanisms. The situation varies quite substantially. We had this debate in the Dáil where some people asked, as Deputy Ferris has done so, about those circumstances...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I just wish to make the point that I plan to bring forward an amendment on Report Stage to include in this section the definition of "enforcement orders" used in the new sections 18A to 18D, inclusive, which section 56 inserts into the 1964 Act.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: Yes. We took a different approach to the development of the legislation. We decided that, instead of repealing the guardianship Act, we would amend it in this Bill in the way that has been outlined. That different approach had implications for other sections of the Bill and some of these definitions. My legal advice was that no new definition was required or advisable in our approach to...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: In terms of the legal advice that has been made available to me and the work that has been done on this over the last weeks and months, I am advised that the direction in which we are going in the Bill allows the widespread understanding of these terms to be retained. The new provisions allow for flexibility to expand the understanding of these concepts. The decision to approach it in this...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I just want to make the point that clearly, the criteria the courts now have to guide them - and it is not an exhaustive list - include the types of factors and circumstances one would take into account when making decisions about access and custody. For example, the benefit to the-----

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I have one or two other points to make in response to the points that were raised. What I have just said is a key point, because if we combine that and see the provisions that are there in terms of the range of factors that need to be taken into account when deciding on the best interests of the child, clearly they would be very helpful in terms of making decisions on access and custody....

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: It might be helpful to the discussion to point out that section 45 of this Bill, which inserts a new section 6C into the 1964 Act, is linked to the points that have just been made. It gives the court the power to appoint a person other than the parent as a guardian. It spells out in detail the rights and responsibilities of the guardian. The proposed new section 6C(11) of the 1964 Act...

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: These are rights for full guardians obviously. The important point is that the Act allows flexibility in terms of the other decisions that guardians have to make. It is important to note that point.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 38:In page 38, line 1, to delete “woman who gave birth to” and substitute “mother of”.

Select Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Committee Stage (5 Mar 2015)

Frances Fitzgerald: I move amendment No. 42:In page 38, line 12, after “three” to insert “consecutive”.