Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Ward. It did occur to me, but it was a Second Stage consideration, and this Bill has been two years on the waiting list to be considered on Committee Stage here. Maybe we would have been wiser to create a family court full stop with geographical divisions rather than having this wedding cake hierarchical system imitating the other jurisdictions. If we had simply just said there shall be a family court and family court judges with special training and all the rest of it who are not members of the District Court or Circuit Court, we might have had an easier way of dealing with all of these jurisdictional matters. The decision as to where particular cases went would not have to be decided by the complex legal arrangements we have here.

I do not know whether there is some constitutional objection to having a family court. As I recollect, the Constitution states that the High Court has full and original jurisdiction, but we can have courts of local and limited jurisdiction in addition to the High Court. I wonder whether it might have been easier in the first place just to have a family court that sits in various different parts of the country and not have to have the distinction between District Court and Circuit Court judges and-or family High Court judges. We could say that family High Court judges are ex officio members of the family court so that the court's jurisdiction could be dealt with in that way. Anyway, we are where we are I suppose is the answer to that. It is a bit late to voice this fundamental query. The next Government might consider that, whatever that is.