Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

No one has a monopoly on legal expertise in this House. We are not the first with the best intentions to have created the worst, as Shakespeare once said. I agree that we must be careful about the words we use. The phrase "necessary or expedient" was mentioned. That was included in the original legislation. Expediency as well as necessity were imported as ideas from the original legislation. That is why they are included in this provision. We will examine the standards or criteria which should be applied in such cases in our review of family law legislation. Although there are many matters on which we have given a discretion to the courts, the exercise of a discretion in such a case raises far reaching questions. As regards the phrase, "in the interests of justice", the right of ownership and residence in a family home is a matter of justice as well as the protection of the spouse.

It is a difficult balancing position and that is why we, as a Legislature, have tended to leave the difficult task of deciding that balance to the courts. The fact that we are complying with the judgment of the Supreme Court in this legislation and setting a definite time limit on such an order is the most important signal to send. If we lose sight of that, we will get lost in discussing the technicalities of certain phrases. We are saying to the courts that there is a time limit on this order which they must respect. That, in itself, imports the ideas about which Senators are concerned in this discussion.