I am happy to report further to the House on my programme of measures to protect and support the family and the institution of marriage.
The House will already be aware of the unprecedented programme of reform of family law and of administrative measures which were promoted in the run-up to the divorce referendum. Those measures included the Family Law Act, 1995, the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, the Domestic Violence Bill, 1995, special social welfare legislation and tax measures, the establishment of new law centres, the reduction in waiting lists in law centres as well as the development of counselling and mediation services with the assistance of Exchequer funding. I can report progress over recent months on several fronts.
The Maintenance Act, 1994 was, on the basis of an order made by me, brought into operation with effect from 25 November 1995. On that date the United Nations Convention on the Recovery Abroad of Maintenance Payments, which the 1994 Act enabled Ireland to ratify, entered into force between the State and 52 other contracting states. That convention provides for a central authority system under which a person in a contracting state seeking maintenance from a person in another contracting state can be assisted in taking an action in that state. Our central authority for the purpose of the convention has been established in my Department. The 1994 Act also enables the State to enter into special agreements with other states on reciprocal arrangements for the recovery of maintenance payments. Such arrangements will exist between the State and all the federal states in the USA with effect from yesterday, 1 May 1996 following an order made under the Act on 30 April 1996 by the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The Family Law Act, 1995 will come into operation with effect from 1 August 1996 on the basis of an order made by me on 16 February 1996. That Act strengthens the law in relation to orders of the court in financial support of spouses and children following breakdown of a marriage; introduces a new type of order called a financial compensation order under which the court has power to assign a life insurance policy in favour of a spouse and dependent children: introduces a new type of order called a pension adjustment order under which the court in separation proceedings can assign an interest in an occupational pension to a spouse and dependent children; increases the age of dependency of children for the purpose of maintenance, at present 16 years or 21 years if school going, to 18 years and 23 years, respectively; gives power to the courts to order lump sum maintenance payments and secured maintenance payments in favour of a spouse and dependent children in any maintenance proceedings, not just judicial separation proceedings as heretofore; gives new power to the courts to make orders in support of spouses and children where a foreign decree of divorce or separation in respect of the marriage concerned is entitled to recognition in the State; enables the court in certain family law proceedings to order social reports from health boards or from probation and welfare officers in relation to children who are the subject of such proceedings; enables the court to provide that an attachment of earnings order may be made at the same time as an order for the payment of maintenance.
The Act also increases the age of marriage from 16 to 18 years and provides for three months of notice of marriage. The Minister for Health, whose Department has responsibilities in relation to the Office of the Registrar of Marriages, recently initiated a programme of information in relation to those new provisions.
The Domestic Violence Act, 1996 came into force on 27 March 1996. It strengthens the power of the courts to make orders for the protection of persons in the home whose safety or welfare requires it because of the conduct of another person in the home; extends that protection to cohabitants subject to certain conditions; and strengthens the powers of arrest of gardaí to intervene in domestic violence cases. The provision under the Act under which a health board may, in special circumstances, seek protection on a child's behalf becomes effective from 1 January 1997. An explanatory leaflet on the various remedies under this legislation has been made widely available to all interested groups and individuals. I can say at this early stage that experience of operation of the Act would already seem to indicate that the legislation has addressed in large measure the particular needs of victims of domestic violence.
On 25 January 1996, on my initiative, Ireland was among the first group of signatories of the Council of Europe Convention on the Exercise of Children's Rights. That convention complements the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which has been ratified by Ireland. The expressed object of the Council of Europe convention is to promote the rights of children in family proceedings affecting them, to grant them procedural rights and to facilitate the exercise of these rights by ensuring that children are informed of them and allowed to participate in the proceedings. The convention is at present being examined with a view to its early ratification.
My Department is preparing proposals for submission to Government to improve, among other matters, aspects of the law on guardianship of children, the giving of evidence by children, and nullity. In the preparation of those proposals various recommendations of the Law Reform Commission are being taken into account.
Access to support services continues to be developed and improved. Four new civil legal aid centres were opened in 1995 and there is provision in Exchequer funding of the Legal Aid Board for 1996 for a further four law centres to be opened. Preparations for the establishment of those further centres by the Legal Aid Board are at an advanced stage. I should also like to mention that, following consultations between my Department and the board on the form of regulations for the purposes of the Civil Legal Aid Act, the regulations are in the course of being formally drafted.
These are the family law measures which have engaged or are engaging the attention of my Department, and, of course, other Departments have been or are engaged in matters which come within their own areas of responsibility. The Government's strategy in relation to the family continues to be one of strong active support and I think the House will agree that the matters I have outlined are very indicative of that approach.