Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail)
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Question 219: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform her plans to increase the scope for visitation and access rights for grandparents, particularly when a child's parent has died and where access by grandparents to a child may be restricted by the other parent. [34354/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Under the law as it stands, in section 11B of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, as inserted by section 9 of the Children Act 1997, a grandparent, not being a testamentary guardian, may apply to the court to obtain an order of access to his or her grandchild. Certain conditions apply to the right to apply for and to obtain the access order. As part of its Third Programme of Law Reform 2008-2014, the Law Reform Commission published a Consultation Paper 'Legal Aspects of Family Relationships', in September 2009. In its Paper the Commission makes provisional recommendations on the rights and duties of extended family members including grandparents. The Commission invited submissions on its provisional recommendations as part of its consultation process. The Commission's final report and recommendations, expected to be published later this year, will help to inform debate on the issues in advance of the formulation of any proposals for reform of the law in this area.