Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to this and the other amendments as well. I thank the Senator for his amendment. At the outset, I am fully supportive of the objective and the intention to ensure the welfare of children is not in any way at risk of being overlooked throughout this Bill or in any family law proceedings. As he has rightly mentioned, Article 42A of the Constitution provides that "the best interest of the child shall be the paramount consideration" in the resolution of all proceedings brought by the State for the purpose to protect the safety and welfare of a child or concerning adoption, guardianship, custody of or access to any child. The relevant family law instruments, including the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, Child Care Act 1991, and adoption legislation already provide for the court to regard the best interests as the paramount consideration when deciding questions arising in proceedings under those Acts.

The specific mention of and focus on "paramount" is for the outcome of the proceedings. What we are referencing here is in relation to the conduct of the proceedings within the court. Providing for the best interest of the child to be a primary consideration in the conduct of the proceedings as a guiding principle for the courts and legal practitioners and indeed for the parties in a case does not displace any existing legislative provisions providing for the best interests of the child to be paramount in the overall outcome of the proceedings.

A similar provision is made in those guiding principles that are directed at the parties to proceedings. It is again thinking, in particular, of domestic violence cases or where consideration needs to be taken of the mother or indeed the father in those circumstances that one does not override the other. In the conduct of the proceedings, it is appropriate to ensure it is the primary consideration for children here as opposed to the particular emphasis on the paramount consideration. The two of them work because we are talking about the overall outcome as opposed to the conduct of the family law proceedings. It is for those reasons I do not propose to accept the amendment.

Amendments Nos. 4 and 7 insert additional wording to make clear that in certain circumstances, which I referenced earlier, alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, may not be an appropriate dispute resolution mechanism. Section 8 of the Bill provides for guiding principles that the courts, legal practitioners and parties to proceedings should have regard to the conduct of legal proceedings. These include the encouragement and facilitation of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as in mediation cases where there may be domestic violence, in particular, and where these are not suitable for mediation. A number of advocacy organisations such as Women's Aid, Safe Ireland and a number of other individuals I have met with have requested that the Bill include wording along the lines of that provided in this amendment so that victims of domestic violence will never find themselves in a situation where mediation is used to further the abuse they are suffering. It is obviously a very valuable tool, as we have discussed earlier, but we have to recognise these kinds of situations.

Amendment No. 5 is a short addition inserting "and accessible" following "user-friendly" in the guiding principles. This is in line with the principle that the courts should be available to all those who need the intervention of a court to determine their legal status. I have listened to various stakeholders again who have advocated that the guiding principles should reflect that proceedings in the family courts should be accessible to all users, including those with disabilities, those experiencing additional barriers or disadvantage, and in response I am proposing the insertion of "and accessible" in the guiding principles.

Amendments Nos. 6 and 8 have similarly been inserted to respond to points made to me by stakeholders in dealing with domestic violence and child safety. These amendments focus on matters the guiding principles require the parties to proceedings to have regard to, including regard to the best interest of any child connected with the case and the safety of a child in those circumstances. This is again consistent with the overall aims of the guiding principles.