asked the Minister for Justice the number of maintenance and custody summonses issued annually from 1976 to date; and the number of maintenance and custody orders granted annually from 1976 to date.
Written Answers. - Maintenance and Custody Summonses and Orders.
413.
Limerick East): High Court — The number of summonses issued in the High Court for the hearing of disputes as to the custody of children under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 in each of the years 1976 to 1983 inclusive was:
|
1976 |
1977 |
1978 |
1979 |
1980 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
|
86 |
182 |
211 |
285 |
379 |
478 |
335 |
1 |
The number of summonses issued in the High Court by a spouse seeking a Maintenance Order under the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 in each of the years 1976 to 1983, inclusive was:—
|
1976 |
1977 |
1978 |
1979 |
1980 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
|
50 |
148 |
196 |
263 |
370 |
428 |
165 |
Nil |
The fall-off in summonses issued in the High Court in 1982 and 1983 in relation to custody and maintenance proceedings is attributable to the devolution of jurisdiction in these areas to the Circuit and District Courts under the Courts Act, 1981.
Figures for the numbers of orders made in relation to custody or maintenance proceedings are not maintained separately and could not be compiled without the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time.
Circuit Court — Separate statistics in relation to family law proceedings in the Circuit Court are available only from the legal year ended 31 July 1981. The number of summonses issued in the Circuit Court for the hearing of disputes as to the custody of children under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, in each of the years ended 31 July 1981 and 31 July 1982 was eight and 57, respectively.
Returns for the year ended 31 July 1983 have not yet been received from all counties. The figure for that year will be supplied to the Deputy as soon as it becomes available.
Figures in relation to the number of orders made are not maintained separately and could not be ascertained without the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time.
Figures in relation to maintenance summonses in the Circuit Court are being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible.
District Court — Annual statistics in respect of maintenance applications have been kept only since the year which commenced on 1 August 1978.
The number of maintenance summonses issued in the District Court and the number of maintenance orders made in respect of the legal years 1978-79 to 1982-83 are set out hereunder.
|
Year ended |
31/7/79 |
31/7/80 |
31/7/81 |
31/7/82 |
31/7/83 |
|
Summonses issued |
1,706 |
1,842 |
2,095 |
1,812 |
872 |
|
Orders made |
— |
1,038 |
1,329 |
984 |
— |
Statistics in relation to the number of maintenance orders made in the year ended 31 July 1983 are being compiled and will be forwarded to the Deputy as soon as possible. Statistics in respect of maintenance orders made during the year ended 31 July 1979 are not available.
The figures exclude maintenance summonses issued at the request of solicitors in the Metropolitan District Court for the years ended 31 July 1979 and 31 July 1980 — such statistics were not kept for those years. It is estimated that they would amount to no more than 16 in the two year period.
As regards custody, the District Court did not have jurisdiction under the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964, until the commencement of the Courts Act, 1981, on 12 May 1982. No summonses were issued or orders made under the Act for the hearing of disputes as to custody in the legal year ended 31 July 1982 and the numbers for the year ended 31 July 1983 were 100 and 77 respectively.