Vol. 488 No. 5
111 Mr. McGrath asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the measures, if any, he proposes to take to address the concerns expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in relation to the lack of guarantees for the child to maintain contact with both parents after divorce. [6565/98]
The United Nations committee, in considering Ireland's first report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child, welcomed, among other matters, provisions in relation to children in the Family Law Act, 1995, the Family Law (Divorce) Act, 1996 and the Children Act, 1997. However, the committee did indicate concern about lack of guarantees for a child to maintain contact with both parents after divorce. The committee did not expressly refer to the position in the context of our separation laws, the operation of which we have, of course, more experience but the reasonable assumption is that the committee probably equated separation with divorce. The committee did not develop the point of concern which it had about guarantees for a child to maintain contact with both parents following the breakdown of a marriage.
Under the law as it stands in the Guardianship of Infants Act, 1964 the court must, in deciding questions relating to children, regard the welfare of the child as the first and paramount consideration. Subject to that important criterion, which is applicable in many other jurisdictions, the same Act empowers the court to give any direction it thinks proper in disputes concerning children. The Children Act, 1997 inserted new provisions in the Act of 1964 to indicate that the court had discretion whether or not to order joint custody. In the course of passage of the Bill, I strengthened, with the agreement of the House, the provisions in this area with a provision to indicate that the court, in making decisions in relation to children, must have regard to whether the child's best interests would be served by maintaining personal relations and direct contact with both his or her father and mother on a regular basis. That provision was inspired by a provision in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Where proceedings are initiated the court, under the Act of 1997 must also, in appropriate cases, consider the wishes of the child.
It is in the best interests of all concerned, particularly the interests of children, when parents can agree between them the arrangements in relation to the custody of and access to their children, following on separation or divorce, rather than have the courts decide the matter. Of importance in this context is that the Act of 1997 places a new emphasis on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms involving counselling and mediation and obliges solicitors acting for the parties to bring the possibilities offered by such procedures to the attention of their clients. It is well recognised that, where couples are separating, counselling and mediation can offer lasting affects which may benefit themselves and their children. The Government has allocated substantial extra funding in 1998 for the development of counselling and mediation services. These are substantial new child-centred provisions in our laws and the hope and expectation must be that their operation will help to improve the position of both parents and children following the breakdown of a marriage. The matter will be kept under review by my Department.
