Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure Members will be aware that in family law cases there are often complaints regarding a father's rights and how they are dealt with. I welcome a move that will make the process more transparent.

Many people finding themselves before family law courts see that it can operate in the District Court system, with cases appended at the end of a long day of hearings on cases. There may be a severe lack of privacy in many cases in courts. Should there be specialist judges involved in the area and should there be special courts for the cases to be heard on one day, away from other judicial procedures? I know there may be a cost involved and practical difficulties but it would be better to have specialists in the area.

The rate of breakdown of marriage in this country is not particularly high, comparatively speaking, as the rate of divorce is lower than in other countries. It may be higher, from a social perspective, than one would wish. There is a significant cost attached to the Exchequer arising from it in many instances, so it behoves us for a variety of reasons - and not least for the benefit of children - to have structures in place to assist reconciliation between the parties. Existing structures are often inadequate, leading to people going to court in an acrimonious fashion. I mentioned to a predecessor of the Minister that we should have a problem mediation service and he assured me the idea was being examined within the Department. I discovered that the emerging mediation service was meant to facilitate a divorce settlement, and although that is a good idea, it is clearly not what I had in mind with regard to protecting children.

The Minister has mentioned administration and operation of the law, and because of the in camera process it is not conducive to confidence in the family law system. I do not disagree with the Minister, who mentioned that people need to know specifically what the process is like. The reality is that when a relationship is fractious, children can become pawns in the hostility that emerges between two parties. I have taken the trouble to contact a small number of solicitors, all of whom have expressed personal reservations about extending the family law courts to the press. Nobody felt it was a good idea.

One person told me he deals constantly with cases and remembers occasions when the presence of the court clerk, in itself, became an inhibiting factor in a case. That is why I feel conflicted about this issue. In cases where one partner feels aggrieved and blames the other partner for the breakdown or where a third party is involved, the presence of the press might, or might not, accentuate such feelings. My colleagues will remember from our council days that meetings were often more productive when the press were not in attendance. I accept that the situations are not parallel. Nevertheless, the presence of the press can have an effect. There is an element of personal embarrassment for the protagonists. If there are maintenance issues the parties will be obliged to spell out their costs of living and may have to discuss access to children.

I am thinking particularly of local newspapers. In Dublin, anonymity will be more easily protected. In small towns, where the District Court operates, the local reporter will know the parties involved. Members of the public may be aware of certain situations but not the detail of why a couple are breaking up. Those details will be easier to connect when cases are reported. With the best will in the world, it will be difficult for reporters to ring-fence that. I ask the Minister to look at this issue and see if privacy can be safeguarded. The interests of the parties involved, and particularly of the children, should be of paramount priority. What we are doing here should not have a negative impact on a single family, not to speak of a number of families.