Vol. 422 No. 4
142 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Justice if he will extend the family mediation service currently available in Dublin only, to other cities including Limerick; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
It would be inappropriate to make any major changes to the Family Mediation Service pending the results of the deliberations of the Review Committee which I expect to appoint shortly.
143 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Justice the number of couples who have been dealt with by the Family Mediation Service in Dublin in each year since its commencement; the number of couples who subsequently made successful arrangements without recourse to the courts; whether the service applies equally to all classes or if it is concentrated on one section of society; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
In the period from 1 September 1986 to 30 June 1992 the Family Mediation Service offered appointments to 1,822 couples who sought its assistance. In the same period 1,253 of these couples attended for mediation, of whom 902 have made successful arrangements. The records maintained by the service do not indicate whether any of these couples subsequently have had recourse to the courts.
With regard to the information given above, it would not be possible without the expenditure of a disproportionate amount of staff time to the task to give a breakdown on a year-by-year basis.
