Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that Article 42A.4 of the Constitution requires that provision be made by law that in the resolution of all proceedings concerning the guardianship or custody of, or access to, any child, the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

Section 3 of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 provides that the best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration for the court in any proceedings where guardianship, custody or upbringing of, or access to, a child is in question.

Section 31 of the 1964 Act, as inserted by the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015, sets out a wide range of factors that the court is required to take into account when determining the best interests of the child in such proceedings.

My Department is leading an ambitious programme of family justice reform set out in the first Family Justice Strategy, which I published in November 2022.

The Strategy sets out a vision for a family justice system of the future - a system that will focus on the needs and rights of children and which will assist their parents in making decisions that affect all of the family.

The Plan outlines the steps needed to create a more efficient and user-friendly family court system that puts the family and children at the centre of its work. This will be achieved through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals, with timelines for delivery up to the end of 2025.

As the strategy was developed, my Department listened to and acknowledged the many issues and concerns about how the current system operates. The actions stress the centrality of children to many family justice matters, and the need to ensure their best interests are considered in conjunction with their constitutional rights.

On 13 June 2024, I published a wide-ranging review into the role of expert reports in the family law process, as committed to in the Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025.

The Review sets out 20 ambitious recommendations for reform, the implementation of which will, amongst other things, promote consistency and common standards in hearing the voice of the child and safeguarding their best interests. They include:

• produce guidelines on the commissioning, content and use of expert reports;
• establish a panel of assessors with a structure to oversee its management;
• establish the role of Children’s Court Advocate, initially on a pilot basis, to assist children in having their voice heard in family law proceedings.

These changes are just one piece – but an important piece – of a reformed family justice system.

Once implemented, these recommendations will improve the quality of expert reports in family law proceedings, standardising practises relating to how they are developed in situations where they are required. They will support the judiciary in their decision making and ensure that children are at the centre of our efforts to improve outcomes for them and their families.

There has been significant progress in implementing the recommendations of the Review of the Role of Expert Reports in the Family Law process.

My Department has established a Voice of the Child Working Group with membership comprising both statutory and voluntary stakeholders in the family justice system. The first meeting of the Group took place on Wednesday, October 16th.

The group was set up in line with the commitment in Goal One of the Family Justice Strategy, that of “supporting children”. The group is taking forward some of the recommendations in the Review of Expert Reports, which was published in June 2024, including the development of a Children’s Court Advocate Pilot Project.

The Review recommends implementing a Children’s Court Advocate Pilot Project and evaluating the outcomes of the pilot project, for children, families, for professionals and for the system.

The envisaged role of a Children’s Court Advocate is to support children in their journey through private family law proceedings, providing information and ensuring their voice is heard, and part of the €3 million allocated in Budget 2025 will go towards funding the pilot.

The Pilot will be developed by the Voice of the Child Working Group and commence in 2025.

The Budget allocation will also permit Department officials to commence work on developing a scheme to fund expert reports from 2025.

The Chief Justice has established a Judicial Committee to develop guidelines on the commissioning, content and use of welfare reports chaired by the Honourable Ms Justice Nuala Jackson of the High Court. The Committee is being supported in their work by the Department of Justice.

The implementation of these actions, alongside the other elements of my family justice reforms, are critical to ensuring we have a family justice system which is more responsive, more consistent and which places children at its heart.

A further key component of the Strategy is the development of a Family Courts Bill which provides for the establishment of family court divisions within the existing court structures.

Once enacted there will be a Family High Court, a Family Circuit Court and a Family District Court, each dealing with family law matters as appropriate to its jurisdiction.

Each of these Family Court divisions will have judges assigned to them on a full-time basis. The Bill provides for a set of guiding principles for the conduct of family law proceedings, including that where the welfare of a child is involved, or likely to be affected, that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration, the child is appropriately informed of the proceedings and where the child is capable of forming their own views and they wish to express such views, that those views are ascertained and given due weight regarding the age and maturity of the child.

The Bill is progressing through the Houses of the Oireachtas and it is my aim that it will be enacted as soon as possible.