The Senators have not specified what exceptional circumstances are envisaged. This is not an easy task. The proposal before the House is that we simply use the phrase "having regard to the circumstances of the particular case". That leaves it to the courts to determine this issue and I accept that. The courts in general are entrusted with a lot of discretion in the area of family law provision and matrimonial law, whether on the division of property, the exclusion of parties from the family home or the determination of appropriate sums of maintenance. These matters are left to the discretion of the court in the particular circumstances of a case.