Written Answers. - Divorce Referendum.
Michael Woods
Question:
20
Dr. Woods
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
the plans, if any, he has to introduce proposals for a divorce referendum; the estimated cost of the Referendum; and if provision for these costs has been included in the Government's Estimates for 1995.
[1976/95]
Ivor Callely
Question:
25
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
the matters, if any, he intends to propose in referenda; the likely time schedule for these referenda; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1966/95]
Helen Keogh
Question:
26
Ms Keogh
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
his views on whether the necessary legislation is now in place in order to ensure a successful conclusion to the Divorce Referendum; if not, the new proposals, if any, he intends to bring forward; and if he has set a date for the Referendum.
[1988/95]
Mary Harney
Question:
41
Miss Harney
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
if he will hold a meeting with the leaders of the opposition parties to discuss the forthcoming referendum on divorce.
[1886/95]
Helen Keogh
Question:
81
Ms Keogh
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
his views on when the proposed divorce referendum will take place; if he has presented draft proposals to Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[2012/95]
Ivor Callely
Question:
86
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Equality and Law Reform
if his Department has sought or received any submissions on marital breakdown and the right to remarry; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[1980/95]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20, 25, 26, 41, 81 and 86 together.
The policy document A Government of Renewal makes clear that the Government is committed to the holding of a referendum on divorce in this year.
A Cabinet sub-committee chaired by me has been established to make recommendations to the Government on proposals in relation to the referendum. The sub-committee has begun work on the matter and will be reporting to the Government as quickly as possible. The details of the Government's decision on the constitutional referendum proposal will be made known in due course by way of publication of the Bill to amend the Constitution.
The definitive proposals of the Government for an amendment of the Constitution on divorce must, of course, be in the form of a Bill since a precondition of the holding of any referendum is the initiation of a Bill in the House. The date of publication of that Bill will be determined largely by the date on which the Government proposes to hold the referendum. The timing of the referendum will take account, as may be necessary, of the case that is under appeal to the Supreme Court concerning provisions in the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989.
The cost of holding the referendum is provided for from the Central Fund which is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for Finance.
Provision of £500,000 is made in my Department's Estimates for a Government information programme in the run-up to the divorce referendum. That figure is contained in the 1995 Book of Estimates. The heads of expenditure will be on similar lines to those in recent referenda which provided for press and billboard advertisement and information booklets and leaflets.
A considerable framework of laws in relation to marital breakdown already exists by way of the Judical Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989, and other pieces of legislation concerning maintenance and protection of spouses and children and protection of the family home. The White Paper on Marital Breakdown — 1992 — gives an overview of those laws and of administrative procedures such as legal aid, mediation and counselling. Since publication of that paper major advances have been made on implementation of measures to better protect and support families. Many of those measures are the responsibility of my Department. The current matters give a good idea of how much progress is being made. In that context I should like to mention the following. The Family Law Bill, 1994 is before the House at Report Stage. It has measures aimed at protecting and safeguarding the institution of marriage. It raises the age of marriage from 16 years to 18 years and provides for notice of marriage. It provides substantial powers to the courts to deal with the financial consequences of marital breakdown in cases where a foreign decree of divorce is entitled to recognition in the State. In substance, those powers will be the same as the powers in any legislation on domestic divorce. They include wide powers in relation to maintenance, inheritance, and property generally, including the family home and pensions. The Bill repeals and re-enacts with amendments provisons in the Judicial Separation Act, 1989. The amendments include new provisions giving the courts powers in separation proceedings to make orders in relation to pensions.
Provisions dealing comprehensively with tax aspects of marital breakdown — capital gains, capital acquisition and probate tax and stamp duty — have been drafted and have been tabled for incorporation into the Family Law Bill, 1994, by way of amendments at Report Stage. They will be model provisions for any divorce legislation.
The Department of Social Welfare is preparing heads of legislation to ensure that no spouse will be disadvantaged in terms of his or her social welfare entitlements as a result of his or her legal status being changed from married, separated or deserted to divorced. Those provisions are required as a follow-on of provisions in the Family Law Bill, 1994, and, again, would be model provisions in the case of provision in our law for domestic divorce.
The Maintenance Act, 1994, was enacted by me in November, 1994 and enables ratification of EU and UN Conventions which will make it easier to recover maintenance from a person living abroad. Arrangements are now being made by the Department of Foreign Affairs to have the conventions ratified.
The Domestic Violence Bill is at present at an advanced stage of drafting and will be published as soon as possible. It will strengthen the powers of the courts to make orders for protection of persons and will strengthen the powers of arrest of the Garda in such cases.
I am glad to say that the Bill to put the scheme of civil legal aid and advice on a statutory footing will be published in the next few days.
A sum of £6.2 million has been provided in this year's Book of Estimates for the Legal Aid Board. The unprecedented increase in funding which I secured in 1994 allowed the board to provide a total of 10 new full-time and 4 part-time law centres. The 1995 funding will also allow the opening of additional new centres.
A special provision of £750,000, an increase of 150 per cent on the previous years funding, was provided in 1994 for the assistance of bodies involved in marriage guidance and counselling to enable them to expand their services and a sum of £750,000 is also provided in this year's Estimates.
Development plans for the family mediation service were also put in place in 1994 with significantly increased funding of £300,000. That figure is proposed to be maintained in 1995 to allow for further developments.
All avenues of approach to the problem of marriage breakdown are under active consideration by the Government. The policy is to address the problem as comprehensively as possible so as to meet all needs. In that context the policy considerations are not confined to questions of reform of the law but extend also to the areas such as tax and social welfare codes, our education programmes and voluntary services. Submissions continue to be made to me from persons and groups in support of changes to tackle the various issues involved in marriage breakdown and these are being taken into account in the formulation of policy within my Department.
During the previous Government I consulted with the Leaders of the Progressive Democrats, the Green Party and the Fianna Fáil Party including its present Leader. However, I would be happy to consult with the Leader of every party who wishes to meet me.
