Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for her response. The key point is that it would be a rebuttable presumption. This means that the court, if satisfied that it was not in the best interests of the child, could displace the presumption. I do not accept that my amendment would make things difficult for the court because it would be able to weigh up the varying evidence and decide what was in the child's best interests. We deliberately did not provide for automatic rights, but I know that an alternative amendment brought forward elsewhere would provide for automatic rights for all unmarried fathers. As I said, I accept that there are concerns about the minority of cases in which guardianship would not be in the child's best interests. I also note the Minister's comments in regard to 97% of applications being approved, which makes the case for having a system like this in that we should not force 97% of fathers to go to court to establish guardianship rights in respect of their children in order to deal with the 3% of cases where such an application will not be approved. It is unfair and wrong for the fathers and their children. We need to keep family law disputes out of the courts in so far as possible and to try to maintain relationships as amicably as possible. It is distressing for all involved when a situation ends up in court and it is being fought over in a contentious way.

That is the spirit behind the amendments. I welcome the Minister's openness about looking at this issue and the fact she gave such a detailed reply. I also welcome her commitment to consult with stakeholders in respect of it and her offer that I would be involved in that. I would very much like to work on this issue with the Minister. It is an area of interest to me.

I will not press the amendment but I am a little concerned about the delay in this area already because, as has been pointed out, there have been two Law Reform Commission reports. However, I can tell from the Minister's reply that she has a genuine interest in it. On that basis, I will not press the amendment. I would like to work with the Minister on moving this area forward. It is long past time that we did right by unmarried fathers and their children.