Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senators. The depth of feeling and priority they assign to this area is clear from their contributions. It was fascinating and insightful listening to the Senators' experiences. It reminded us of the urgency of, and reasoning for, doing this. Be Senators advocates, practitioners or both, it is clear that we have a wealth of expertise in the Seanad, which we will be eager to draw on as we work our way through the legislative process.

I acknowledge what Senators Pauline O'Reilly, Horkan and Martin stated. This was a priority during the programme for Government negotiations. It is lovely to be in a parliamentary chamber where there is a cross-party, bipartisan, non-partisan approach to getting this legislation right and getting it done. I thank Senators for that.

I also thank my colleague and friend, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, for her leadership and determination on this Bill. She would not forgive me if I did not keep it moving. I acknowledge the work and priority she has attached to the family justice system. Part of that work is culminating in this debate.

If we are being honest, we in politics have a tendency to talk about milestones, significance and landmarks, but it is actually true in this context. It is not hyperbole. This legislation has the potential to be a major milestone and significant landmark law that reforms family law, puts the child at the centre of all that we do in that regard, moves away from the adversarial system and creates non-adversarial pathways that are operable and practical. I had a sense of it already, but I have an even greater sense of it now – if we want to move away from an adversarial system, it will of course involve the law, but it will also involve the buildings and acoustics. This point reminds me of the importance of approaching the Bill from a number of angles.

The Bill's enactment will have a significant beneficial impact in terms of providing many of the key building blocks that we need to put in place in order to reform our family justice system and develop sensible, comprehensive and sensitive family law procedures for all families, but particularly vulnerable ones. I will examine the range of issues that Senators highlighted and give consideration to introducing appropriate amendments and teasing through the issues with Senators on Committee and Report Stages.

I will endeavour to respond briefly to some of the points raised. I noted the question from my colleague, the Acting Chair, and other Senators around the Hammond Lane site.I will get an update for the Senator and others on the Hammond Lane site. My understanding is that, more recently, the Courts Service Hammond Lane project board approved, in principle, the design plan of the buildings at its meeting on 28 November subject to a couple of amendments that are being addressed. I understand how significant that project is, however.

There was a commonality to many of the points made by a number of Senators so I will not name everyone. Senators Seery Kearney and Pauline O'Reilly mentioned Women's Aid. I very much acknowledge its brilliance in terms of advocacy and what it does. I mean that extremely sincerely. We have a very good partnership approach with it on many important issues.

I am aware of some concerns raised around difficulties experienced by victims of domestic violence relating to family law cases as they go through the court process. The roll-out of the family court division presents an opportunity to try to address these issues and make changes that will improve the court experiences of families and children in cases where domestic violence is involved. My Department and I will continue to engage with organisations, including Women's Aid, that work with victims of domestic violence. We will consider their suggestions on what changes are needed to ensure the establishment of dedicated family courts works to reduce difficulties that victims of domestic violence may experience in engaging with the courts. It is well known that we have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to this, however. We certainly want this legislation to help and support victims and survivors of domestic violence in any way it can.

The issue with regard to Legal Aid Board solicitors was raised by Senator Seery Kearney. The issue of civil aid and legal aid, in general, was raised by Senator Wall and others. Among the terms of reference of the current review of civil legal aid is an examination of the modes of delivery of legal aid and advice provision under the scheme. The review group will be making recommendations regarding the future of the scheme and related systems to meet effectively the priority legal assistance of those with limited means as well as making recommendations related to the effective resourcing of the scheme to achieve it. I very much accept that Senators were making the point about resourcing and supporting it, and we will certainly do that.

The issue of training arose, which is quite important and is key. This is the benefit of having full-time assigned judges to the court. Ongoing professional training in the area of family law will obviously be required for family court judges. We now have the Judicial Council, which will be responsible for identifying training requirements. Improvement and training will be supported for all court staff and professionals working within the family justice system. That is important. Of course, it is about the judge, but it is also about all of the court staff in terms of the journey from the moment a person turns up to the end of the legal process. One element of meeting the strategic goal of supporting children in our family justice strategy is an action to engage with the Judicial Council and professional bodies to identify and deliver common and standardised child-focused training to all professionals working within the family justice sector.

I will comment on the point made by Senator Seery Kearney on the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill 2022. The Senator reminded us, if ever we needed it, of the very significant urgency of making progress in this regard. I know this is a view shared by Senators across the House. The Senator made it very real for us in terms of the impact today on families going through challenging and difficult times, extraordinarily so in some cases. The Minister for Health and the Government are absolutely committed to bringing forward amendments as a matter of urgency. I will seek a detailed timeline and progression for the Senator on foot of today.

I acknowledge, as Senator Higgins did, Senator Ruane's interest in the Bill. I have absolutely no doubt Senator Ruane will go through this line by line and engage constructively, as she always does. I look forward to that.

Senator Higgins raised the issue of expert advice and reports. I touched on this briefly in my opening statement but ran out of time, so I would like to return to it. Who is an expert? Who is providing information that could be very influential in the outcome of a court proceeding, and does that person have the expertise to be as influential, if you like, in terms of a decision that could have a very profound impact on a child and family or perhaps on a vulnerable person. As Senator Higgins knows, Section 47 of the Family Law Act provides that the Circuit Court or High Court may order "a report in writing on any question affecting the welfare of a party to ... [family law] proceedings or any other person to whom they relate". Section 3 of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 provides that the best interests of the child shall be a "paramount consideration" for the court in any proceedings where guardianship, custody, upbringing of or access to a child is in question. Obviously, the courts and the Judiciary are independent. I very much get and respect that. It is a core tenet of our democracy. Assessors and experts in family law proceedings are formally appointed by the court itself and they are answerable to the presiding judge. The Family Courts Bill does not provide for any legislative change regarding these reports. I did say in my opening statement, however, that I asked my Department to prioritise the area around the whole issue of expert reports. I am pleased to inform the Seanad today that this review work has now commenced. This is an area to which we will be able to return and tease through the issue.

On judicial numbers, it is very important when we talk about judicial numbers to be aware, and I sometimes wonder whether it gets the attention it requires because people think it is about judges, that it is about the delivery of access to justice and delivering public services, in many ways. We do not have enough judges in this country. Let us be crystal clear. Yes, we wanted an evidence base to establish that but the Senator is right. We know without an independent report that we do not have enough judges. I received in recent days the report of the judicial numbers planning group. It is an excellent piece of work done by a group chaired by Ms Brigid McManus. I intend to engage with Government colleagues with regard to progressing this shortly. I believe there are key areas, whether it is housing, planning, family law, assisted decision-making, migration - you can pick a whole variety of areas - in which increased numbers can actually result in increased access to justice, but also very key societal priorities that need to be expedited. Expect developments on that shortly.

I will also reflect on the comments regarding child maintenance. A piece of work was done between the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Humphreys, in that regard. I am happy to engage further on that.

Let me end where I began by saying I am genuinely excited about this legislation. It is a very important piece of work. I thank everybody in the Department of Justice and beyond who has worked to get us to this point. We obviously want to get the legislation right and we will work with the Seanad to make sure we do that. We are now going to create divisions of a family law court throughout our court system. We will make sure there is a specific focus and route for people when family difficulties arise. We will make sure there is a system that is less adversarial and more effective in terms of cost and, therefore, more accessible to people, and that puts the child at the centre of all we do. That is our common objective. That is the message I have taken from Senators. I will reflect on the points they made today.