Last year, for the first time I moved the Estimates for my Department. At that stage the Department of Equality and Law Reform was but a few months old and we had only begun to give consideration to the best way of implementing those elements in the Programme for a Partnership Government which related to the responsibilities of this new Department.
Understandably, last year's Estimates contained expenditure under a number of subheads which covered the costs entailed in setting up the Department. These included the purchase of various fixtures and fittings, such as fax machines, word processors, computer equipment, etc. My Department has moved a long way in a relatively short time. The process of legislative reform has already begun and considerable progress has been made in the preparation of legislation to be placed before the Oireachtas.
The main thrust of my Department's policies has been to legislate to support the family and measures which will assist the family in dealing with the various problems which it faces in a modern age. Wherever possible we are putting in place measures which will assist and support families in difficulty while at the same time recognising the reality of family problems, particularly the ever increasing level of marital breakdown. Specifically, my Department will provide funding on an unprecedented level to the Legal Aid Board which deals with a significant number of family law cases, the Family Mediation Service which assists a married couple whose marriage has broken down and helps them reach a voluntary agreement about arrangements for children, property and the family home without the need for court intervention, and marriage counselling services which do work of immense value, especially in helping couples encountering difficulties in their marriages.
Subhead C.1, under which £4,972,000 is being provided in 1994 as grant-in-aid to the Legal Aid Board, represents an increase of 56 per cent over the £3,206,000 expended by my Department in 1993 for this purpose. The civil legal aid and advice scheme was established in 1979 so that persons of limited means could avail of legal services. However, because of pressure on public finances generally, the pace at which services under the scheme were developed and expanded was slower than originally envisaged. In early 1993, I succeeded in getting from the Government a special increase of £100,000 for that year for the Legal Aid Board which facilitated the introduction of the private solicitor project. This project, which is confined to District Court reliefs in barring, custody and maintenance cases, has been especially helpful in reducing waiting lists generally.
The £4.974 million I secured this year as a grant-in-aid to the Legal Aid Board is a dramatic increase on the 1993 allocation of £3.2 million and is sufficient to enable the board to proceed with its programme of development. An increase of this magnitude has never been matched by any Government since the legal aid scheme was initiated. The additional money will allow for the expansion of the board's network of law centres by the opening in 1994 of ten full or part-time centres, as provided for in the development programme. This will ensure that by the end of this year, all counties will have either a full-time or part-time centre. Recently I attended the official opening — in Nenagh — of the first of these new centres to come on stream. In the coming months, two other new full-time centres will become operational in Dublin, one in the city and the other in Blanchardstown. In addition to the new centre at Nenagh, new centres will be opening in Ennis, Kilkenny, Longford, Monaghan, Portlaoise, Wexford and Wicklow.
The grant-in-aid to the Legal Aid Board this year represents an increase of 56 per cent over the previous year. When the planned additional staff are recruited, the board will have a total of 75 solicitors and 129 support staff employed. These increases mean that since coming into office, this Governemnt will have mroe than doubled the number of staff employed by the board and doubled the capacity of the board to act on behalf of the clients who use the service.
Over the years, much interest has been expressed in having a statutory scheme of civil legal aid and advice introduced. In this respect, considerable progress has been made on the commitment made in the Programme for a Partnership Government to put it on a statutory basis. Legislation on the matter is at an advanced stage of drafting. This year, I am increasing the grant aid to the free legal advice centres, more commonly known as FLAC, to £45,000.
Some £30,000 is being provided under subhead D, the conciliation service, in 1994, which is more than double the amount allocated to the service in 1993. The conciliation service is better known to most as the family mediation service. It was set up in Dublin on an experimental basis under the auspices of the Department of Justice. It now operates under the auspices of my Department from which it is wholly funded. The purpose of the service is to assist a husband and wife whose marriage has broken down to reach a voluntary agreement about arrangements for children, property, the family home, maintenance and succession rights, without the need for court intervention. While the State funded family mediation service operates from a premises in Dublin, its services are not confined to those resident there. The increased allocation available to the service in 1994, to which I have already referred, will facilitate the expansion and development of the service and enable it to be established on a permanent basis. I commend the work of the mediation service and intend to give it all the support I can.
Grants for marriage counselling services represent a new subhead in my Department's Vote. In previous years, grants to the voluntary organisations providing marriage and counselling services were administered by the Department of Health through the health boards. There has been little increase over the years in the amounts provided to the various organisations. Neither has there been particular centralisation of decision making in the process with several Departments involved at any one time.
Work of immense value is done by a number of voluntary organisations in the area of marriage counselling for couples encountering difficulties with their marriages. I secured funding of £750,000 for those organisations in 1994; an increase of 150 per cent over last year. This money will be used to assist those organisations in their work, to encourage them to develop and expand marriage counselling and related services and ensure a nationwide coverage. It will be dispersed in a fair and equitable manner in the interests of the community which the counselling organisations are serving.
My Department is responsible for the central authority for the purposes of The Hague and Council of Europe Conventions on child abduction, a function which was taken over from the Department of Justice in May 1993. The estimates for the operation of the central authority in my Department is £10,000, similar to the amount allocated to the Department of Justice prior to the transfer of the function to my Department. The money is used, for example, as a contingency fund to assist in the travel costs of children being returned to Ireland.
In 1993, the central authority received 73 new applications involving 125 children, an increase of 74 per cent on the previous year. In addition, a further nine cases were carried forward from the previous year, leaving a total of 82 cases. These cases can be divided equally between abductions into the State from other countries — 41 — and abductions from the State to other countries. In the case of children removed to the State, the High Court ordered the return of children in 13 cases; the court refused to return a child in one case; the parties reached agreement in six cases; six applications were withdrawn and four applications were outside the scope of the relevant convention. There were 11 cases pending at the end of the year.
The Family Law Bill, 1994, currently being considered by the Oireachtas, develops and strengthens the law on the financial and other consequnces of marital breakdown and deals with a wide range of other matters, including age and notice of marriage. New powers are being given to the courts to order financial support for a person whose marriage is annulled and for a person whose foreign decrees to divorce, nullity or separation are entitled to recognition in the State. The Bill addresses the problem of what should happen to occupational pensions in the context of marital breakdown and it allows the court to order attachment of earnings at the time of making orders for maintenance of spouses and children. At present, separate proceedings are required for an attachment of earnings order and the spouse must prove default of the other spouse in complying with a maintenace order. That procedure is cumbersome and involves expense. Moreover, surveys show that attachment of earnings doubles the chances of compliance with a maintenance order.
The Maintenance Bill, 1994, will enable the State to ratify two international conventions aimed at making it easier for persons living in the territory of one of the parties to those conventions to recover maintenance from a person living in the territory of another party. At the heart of the proposed system will be a central authority which will act on behalf of the maintenance creditor and liaise with a similar body in the other state. The later state will, in turn, arrange to have the maintenance order recognised and enforced in its jurisdiction. A similar arrangement, which has been in operation between Ireland and the United Kingdom since 1974, operates through the office of the Master of the High Court and has proven to be successful.
The Bill will also allow agreement to be made with states who are not party to the UN Convention, for example, the United States and Canada. These arrangements will represent a considerable improvement on the current situation in so far as these non-EU states are concerned.
A Bill on barring and protection orders will implement the Government's commitment to extend barring orders legislation and to enhance the rights of parties on non-marital unions. The legislation will take into account representations made by interested groups and recommendations contained in reports of the Law Reform Commission, the Second Commission on the Status of Women and the Kilkenny incest investigation. New powers of arrest will be given to the Garda and health boards will be authorised to act on behalf of persons, subject to certain conditions to be specified in the legislation.
There was an expectation on all sides of the House this time last year that, after many years, legislation to provide for joint ownership of the family home and household contents would soon become a reality. As we know, that expectation was not realised when the Supreme Court decided the Matrimonial Home Bill, 1993, was repugnant to the Constitution. I am determined, in so far as the parameters of that judgment will allow, to promote joint ownership of the family home to the greatest practicable extent. To that end, my Department is currently examining proposals for legislation to provide simplified arrangements for voluntary conveyances of family homes to joint ownership. The aim of such provisions is to enable couples to give full and effective recognition to the contribution made by the spouse working in the home.
In line with commitments in the Programme for a Partnership Government, my Department is giving attention to a multiplicity of legislative proposals — 12 Bills in all — at various stages. Among these are proposals to amend the law on occupiers' liability, taking into account the Law Reform Commission's recent report. These proposals are being finalised with a view to a Bill being published this year. Proposals for a Bill on enduring powers of attorney are also in course of preparation.
The Government's decision on the timing of the referendum on divorce will take into account, among other matters, progress in the Government's programme of family law measures. It is the Government's intention to proceed with the implementation of its programme as quickly as possible and to ensure that by the time of the referendum, the outstanding issue to be put to the people will be whether or not those whose marriages have ended in all but name should have the right to re-marry. In this respect, the Government's decision on the timing of the referendum will, if necessary, take into account the outcome of the decision of the court on the case that is pending concerning the provisions in the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989.
The committee will be aware that under subhead L, a sum of £500,000 is provided for in respect of the information campaign in the run up to the divorce referendum. While it is by no means certain, in the light of the constitutional challenge to the Judicial Separatation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989, that this money will be required in 1994, it would be remiss of the Government not to provide for an information campaign in view of all the legislative changes since 1986. All the research in this area appears to indicate a dearth of knowledge on the part of the public as to the nature of the changes in the law relating to marital breakdown since the last referendum.
Information of a factual nature will be provided to the public on the proposals for an amendment to the Constitution and on the details of any divorce legislation which would follow a "Yes" vote. My Department will have responsibility for the information campaign in consultation with the Government Information Services.
I am currently preparing legislation to implement the EU Pregnant Workers Directive, which is due for transposition into Irish law by October 1994. The main provisions regarding maternity leave have been available since 1981 under the Maternity (Protection of Employees) Act. I also published earlier this year the report of the Working Group on Child-care Facilities for Working Parents. This report provides a valuable overview of the existing position regarding child care facilities and makes important recommendations directed at employers and workers as well as Government. I am consulting all Ministers in this regard.
I am providing £90,000 in 1994 for the operations of the task force on the travelling community which I established in July 1993 and which is chaired by Deputy McManus. In addition, a further £75,000 is provided for 1994 in respect of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities. The work of the commission is ongoing and I understand it will shortly publish a consultative document outlining the nature and focus of its work to date. I have also provided £114,000 to fund the proposed Council for the Status of People with Disabilities. I envisage that the role of the council will be to oversee implementation of action to improve the position of people with disabilities.
As promised in the Programme for a Partnership Government, I will introduce equal status legislation dealing with discrimination in non-employment areas and covering a wide range of grounds, including gender, marital or parental status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, colour, nationality and national or ethnic origin, including membership of the travelling community. A discussion paper on the subject was circulated to almost 80 non-Government bodies last year and a substantial number of responses was received. Work on the details of the legislation is progressing as speedily as possible and I hope it will be published this year.
Proposals are well advanced for new employment equality legislation which will prohibit discrimination, not only on the grounds of sex or marital status, but on wider range of grounds, including parental status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, colour, nationality or national or ethnic origins, including membership of the travelling community. Priority is being given to preparation of this legislation with a view to its enactment at the earliest possible date.
