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

The objective of the Bill is that we would have separate family District Courts. They will not be dealing with all of the lists and cases they are dealing with now. The sole focus and attention of the judges appointed to the family courts at all levels, but in particular to the District Courts, will be family law, as it should be, not dealing with the backlogs they are currently addressing. The challenge at the moment is that there are judges who want to give this the time but they simply cannot because they are dealing with so many other issues. That is absolutely my intention.

To refer back to my discussion with Senator McDowell on the initial amendment, it is my intention that the courts will be supported and that they will have the appropriate resources so that the family judges in the District Court, Circuit Court and High Court will deal solely with these cases and not have to deal with all the other backlogs that currently exist. Also, the additional judges will not just be going to the family courts - we have had 30 so far and there are 20 more to come - they will be spread across the various jurisdictions. The criminal courts and other civil courts as well will have access to those new judges. Once this legislation is passed - and as soon as we have all the family judges in place - they will be able to focus solely on family law matters, which should take away some of the burden but also give them the time and space needed to deal with those cases.

I agree with Senator Ward that if it is not appropriate to hear a case in the Circuit Court, then it will should not be conducted there. I do not intend that this Bill would force cases to be heard that are not appropriate and that should not be dealt with in the District Court. The judge, practitioners or individuals involved could agree to move the jurisdiction if that is what they feel is most appropriate.