Hildegarde Naughton (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House to deal with this important matter. In September the Department of Justice and Equality announced that it was of the opinion that there was no need for a referendum in order to establish a system of specialist family law courts and rather it could be done by legislation. What is the timeframe for dealing with that legislation?Despite recent positive developments, such as the reporting of family law cases, the Minister will be aware there remains disquiet about the operation of the current system. This disquiet arises on a number of fronts, one being the fragmented nature of the system. There are three courts - the District Court, the Circuit Court and the High Court - hearing various aspects relating to family law. In addition, there are long delays getting the most basic applications heard. The result of such delays is that if a person does not have his or her case heard by the judge on the day it is listed, he or she could be wait months for it to be heard. To put it simply, there are not enough sittings to deal with these cases.

Will the Minister of State give a commitment that the system envisaged will be one where specialist judges will sit and listen only to family law matters and that they will sit regularly? There is little point in taking judges from the existing system where they are overloaded with work as matters stand. There is no requirement for judges who hear family law matters to have any specialist knowledge in the area. It is also the case that family law matters are often heard at the end of a busy day on which other legal matters have been dealt with. This means family law litigants are forced to sit around courthouses hoping that their cases will be heard. While I accept this practice is out of a wish to grant as much privacy as possible to the parties, it is far from ideal. I do not need to go into the other shortcomings of the current system because I know the Minister of State is aware of them.

The Minister of State will also be aware of the varying stories about the perceived gender bias that is supposed to operate in the family law courts. In light of the passing of the marriage equality referendum, I ask that the perception of a more gender-neutral attitude would emerge in family law matters. Now that children of married same-sex partners can be the subject of court orders, it is hoped that the best interests of the child, and only that, will be the overriding consideration. Of course, the introduction of specialist courts and trained judges would also go a long way towards eroding this perception.

I commend the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, on the work she has done in reforming the system. I know she shares the concerns of citizens that our system of family law is not as it should be. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Kevin Humphreys, to provide some assurance that the reform of the system is ongoing by providing an update to the House on the proposed introduction of the specialist family law courts and by indicating where that legislation currently stands.