Máirín Quill
Question:6 Miss Quill asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the plans, if any, he has to assist in the further development of the family mediation service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17298/96]
Questions—Ceisteanna. Oral Answers. - Family Mediation Service.
Brendan Kenneally
Question:18 Mr. Kenneally asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the progress, if any, which has been made in identifying areas outside of Dublin and Limerick for the provision of family mediation services; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17465/96]
Kathleen Lynch
Question:21 Kathleen Lynch asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the plans, if any, he has for the development of the family mediation service; the voluntary organisations and individuals which have been retained on a fee-percase basis to provide mediation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17294/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 18 and 21 together.
The family mediation service of my Department is a professional confidential service which enables couples who have decided to separate or who have already separated to negotiate their own separation agreement with the help of a trained mediator, without resorting to adjudication through the courts. All issues are included in the negotiations, such as ongoing parenting of the children, the family home, family finances, pensions, property and any other issues relevant to the separation.
As part of a programme for development and expansion of the family mediation service, two new posts of area mediation co-ordinator have been created, one for the existing family mediation centre at the Irish Life Centre, Lower Abbey Street, Dublin, and one for the new centre at Mill House, Henry Street, Limerick. Competitions to fill these posts have been held under the auspices of the Civil Service Commission and I understand appointments are imminent. The persons appointed will be responsible for delivery of a quality mediation service, with the assistance of a team of mediators, each for his or her own geographical areas of responsibility.
The appointment of area mediation co-ordinators will facilitate the establishment of a scheme for the use of mediators in private practice, who have the necessary training and experience and otherwise meet the standards set by the family mediation service to provide family mediation at locations distant from a family mediation centre or to relieve pressure on the centres at Dublin or Limerick. The allocation of cases to private mediators would be done through the family mediation service.
I thank the Minister for his response. In the past the family has been the bedrock of Irish society. The House passed the Divorce Bill recently because it will help families who are parting and it was the will of the people. I always wonder what is better, to try to keep families together or apart and, for a huge number of reasons into which I will not go, I would come down in favour of keeping families together. There is a duty and responsibility on us to do that.
Obviously, additional resources must be put in place to support the various divorce measures. On the other side, we should be putting in place resources to try to keep families together as much as possible. The Minister mentioned family mediation in his reply but he is talking basically about when couples have separated in regard to the ongoing parenting of children, etc., whereas I would have thought any family mediation would be an effort to try on behalf of the State in the first instance to keep these families together as much as possible. Additional resources need to be put into that area. What efforts are being made in that regard?
The Minister mentioned area co-ordinators also. When will they be put in place? Down the road, is there any intention to open full family mediation centres outside Dublin and Limerick as there are quite a number of other regions?
Deputy Kenneally may not quite have followed that I was talking solely about mediation. His question referred to what is more usually described as counselling. I did not deal with counselling in this reply because the question was about mediation.
I share his concern as far as funding and resources for counselling and mediation are concerned. I am happy to tell him that the funding which I have made available for marriage counselling, which has as its object of course the resolution of difficulties and keeping spouses together, has been increased hugely since I took over responsibility for it. All the main family counselling organisations, the largest of which is Accord with branches all over the country including Cork, have received increased funding from my Department during the past few years which has enabled them to expand their operations. The question deals with mediation which covers a different line of operation where the marriage has come to an end. It facilitates spouses to work out their differences on an amicable basis outside court where property and children are concerned.
Mediation is a very skilled operation and requires skilled people. The position so far as the evolution of the mediation system and profession is concerned is that, relatively speaking, it is still in its infancy. The number of skilled, trained professional mediators is small. We have no regular organised training system or professional qualification as such. That will come and is in the process of evolution. The Government service operates at two levels. Until recently there was only one family mediation service, located in Dublin. I felt we had to have a second one outside Dublin and the Limerick centre was opened on 17 May. We are recruiting two key people to be known as area co-ordinators, one for Dublin and one for Limerick. That will enable both centres to operate on an extended basis and it will also enable us to avail of the relatively small number of trained mediators who operate in private practice in a number of locations around the country. There are only about 17 or 18 people who have the necessary qualification and who are in private practice. The idea is that they will be employed on a fee per case basis by the family mediation centre in appropriate cases and people would be referred to them after assessment at the head office in Dublin. In the fullness of time when more skilled mediators are available my hope is that we will have a third centre in the most suitable location, perhaps in the North or in the midlands. However, it would be premature to consider that at this stage.
While there is a lack of trained mediators, it is welcome that we will have area co-ordinators operating from Dublin and Limerick. Will the available trained mediators be paid the going rate? I am concerned at the amount of funding made available.
Is the Deputy talking about co-ordinators or private practitioners?
I am talking about private practitioners. Even though they are few in number, they are available. While the Minister has made extra funding available these moneys are never enough. Will those people come under the mediation co-ordinators and, if so, will they be paid what they might ordinarily be paid in private practice?
I cannot say what the rates of pay might be for the private mediators who will work with the family mediation centres. We have not reached that point yet. I do not know whether a standard fee arrangement operates or if they have different fee arrangements. Obviously that will have to be negotiated on and discussed with the private mediators and we have to inquire if they are prepared to operate in this way. They would be independent contractors and would be employed on a fee per case basis which would have to be negotiated. Interviews have already taken place and the appointment of area co-ordinators is imminent. They will make contact with private practitioners around the country to ascertain if they are prepared to operate within the scheme on this basis and to discuss the fee base. It would be premature to say what the basis will be but it will have to be resolved by negotiation with them.
How many couples used the family mediation service during 1995 and what resources are being given to it in terms of annual financing and staffing levels?
The organisation has handled approximately 250 cases annually. On average, couples require about six sessions, each of two hours duration. The service is provided free. What we are talking about is a skilled professional operation and not an in-out one where couples come in for half an hour and that is the end of the matter. The average case takes up some 12 hours. The breakdown is that of the approximate 250 cases dealth with, 61 per cent resulted in an agreement being reached, 32 per cent failed to reach agreement and 7 per cent resolved to continue with their marriage. One would wish that the latter figure was considerably higher. It has a high success rate in that 61 per cent of cases resulted in an agreement being reached outside of the courts which meant that they were relieved from the pressures which exist in the family courts.
Did the Minister say that 7 per cent agreed to continue with their marriages?
Yes.
What quality control or audit procedures are in place to assist the performance of the family mediation service and to whom and how frequently does the service report?
The service operates under the aegis of my Department and reports to it. Quality control is exercised by the officials of my Department. The co-ordinator is in charge of the overall service. Until recently, and since the inception of the service, Maura Wall Murphy was the director, a person of tremendous ability. The building up and development of this service owes a huge amount to her. I welcome this opportunity given to me by Deputy Wallace to pay a major tribute to her. She is now retired but gave wonderful service. She developed the necessary skill and professionalism. I visited both centres and was enormously impressed by what I saw. The care and attention to detail given in respect of each case is remarkable when one considers the service is provided free of charge to those who wish to avail of it. Twelve hours is devoted to each case, six two-hour sessions, and every aspect is gone into with tremendous patience and skill. The dedication of the mediators who work there and provide a public service is something of which we can be proud.