At the beginning of last year I outlined in great detail the Government's manifesto for equality which is entrusted to my Department. This manifesto has the full and unqualified support of all of the parties in Government and of most people outside Government. In the three and a half years since my Department was established it has, for a small branch of the public service, made a considerable impact in terms of legislation passed and in terms of putting in place the conditions for a truly equal society.
Last year it was acknowledged by members of the committee that one of the most important tasks facing the Department was the divorce referendum. There was particular interest that parents and children would have new measures to protect and support them in the context of marriage breakdown, including divorce. If the way is cleared by the Supreme Court in the case before it on the divorce referendum I will be in a position to quickly bring forward the text of the Family Law (Divorce) Bill for formal approval of the Government to publish it and circulate it to Deputies. Subject to the result of that case, I look forward, as I am sure all members of this Committee will, to a constructive debate on the Bill, much of which is modelled on provisions in the Family Law Act, 1995.
In response to those in the Committee last year who urged a programme of measures to protect and support the family and the institution of marriage, I will indicate the very significant progress on those matters to date. 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. Following detailed discussions between officials of my Department and US authorities, arrangements are in place between the State and all federal states in the USA since 1 May, 1996 following an order made by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs. In effect, Ireland now has special arrangements with other states for the recovery of maintenance due to members of a family. The aim is that maintenance debtors in another country will not be allowed to evade the responsibility of maintaining the other spouse or any children.
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. The Act strengthens the law in relation to orders of the court on financial support of spouses and children following breakdown of a marriage; it allows for financial protection following foreign divorce or separation; it improves the law on applying for declarations as to marital status; it increases the age of marriage and provides a new notice provision; it gives the Circuit Court jurisdiction in custody cases and provides for other matters. In view of publicity generated by the recent Private Members' Marriages Bill to the effect that the marriage provisions in the 1995 Act require to be amended, I take this opportunity to inform the Committee that I am advised by the Attorney General that there is no necessity for that Bill and that the marriage provisions of the Act are in order.
The Domestic Violence Act, 1996 is now law and came into force on 27 March 1996. This time last year the legislation was yet to be published — it came under the category of legislation that was promised. The Act strengthens the power of the courts to make orders to protect 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 and the powers 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 person's behalf becomes effective from 1 January 1997. An explanatory leaflet on the various remedies under this legislation has been made widely available to interested groups and individuals. Experience of operation of the Act already seems to indicate the legislation has significantly improved the protection for 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 being examined with a view to its early ratification.
The Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, which provides a statutory framework for the scheme of civil legal aid and advice, was passed on 16 December 1995. The regulations necessary to give effect to that Act are in the course of being formally drafted, taking into account consultations between my Department and the Legal Aid Board.
These are the main family law measures which have engaged the attention of my Department. That process of family law reform continues in my Department. As well as being responsible for the legislation which will be necessary to implement divorce, the Department is preparing proposals for submission to Government to improve, among other matters, aspects of the law on guardianship of children, the evidence of children and nullity. In the preparation of those proposals various recommendations of the Law Reform Commission are being taken into account. I shall bring forward those proposals as quickly as possible.
Other very important legislative measures promoted by my Department during the past year are in relation to occupier's liability and powers of attorney. The Occupiers' Liability Act, 1995, came into operation on 17 July 1995. It updated the law governing the relationship between occupiers of and entrants to property and makes important distinctions between the duty owed to visitors and that owed to trespassers and recreational users. The legislation took into account work of the Law Reform Commission and detailed consultations with interest groups, including farming organisations.
The Powers of Attorney Bill initiated in the Seanad in late June 1995 is now before the Seanad with some amendments from the Dáil. That Bill is of necessity complex and technical, but I have no doubt that in time the simple message it delivers will be taken on board by a considerable number of people. Its main importance is that it will enable people to provide in advance for the possibility that they may become incapable of managing their powers by authorising a person or persons of their choice to act for them in that eventuality. I have, during progress on this Bill, taken into account the valuable deliberations of this committee as well as consultations between my Department and members of the Law Society. Progress is being made on the regulations to give full effect to the legislation and I am taking into account consultations with the Law Society and the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association on the practical and other aspects of those regulations.
I propose to introduce shortly a Bill to amend the law on civil liability. It will update the amount payable by way of compensation for mental distress in fatal injuries cases and it will extend the category of persons who can seek certain damages in fatal injuries cases. The Bill is in the course of being formally drafted.
An Employment Equality Bill which will prohibit discrimination in employment on grounds of gender, marital status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin or membership of the travelling community is being prepared in my Department at present. I expect to be in a position to publish the Bill shortly.
Work is proceeding on the preparation of the Equal Status Bill dealing with discrimination in the provision of goods and services, for the categories of people I have already mentioned. This will be complex and wide-ranging legislation and extensive consultations with interested parties have taken place with officials in my Department. I met many delegations to hear views in relation to this proposed legislation. The Bill is being drafted at present and I hope to be in a position to publish it before the end of the year. I am working to achieve a balanced and reasonable Bill that can meet the legitimate needs of all concerned, and I am hopeful that, working together, we can achieve this.
Under subhead C1, £6.5 million is being provided in 1996 as grant-in-aid to the Legal Aid Board. This represents an increase of 5 per cent over the £6.2 million expended by my Department in 1995 for this purpose.
The scheme of civil legal aid and advice was established in 1979 so that persons of limited means could avail themselves 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 that originally envisaged. Over the years it became apparent that waiting lists at the board's law centres were lengthening. Another unfortunate feature of the scheme, that also causes me much concern, is the need for many clients, particularly outside Dublin, to travel undue distance to get to law centres. I was determined, therefore, on taking office as Minister for Equality and Law Reform over three years ago, to try to ensure that the maximum moneys possible would be provided within budgetary constraints, to secure significant and lasting improvements in access to the services provided by the board.
Early in 1993, at my request, the Legal Aid Board, in consultation with officials of my Department, devised a development programme for the board for the purpose of securing meaningful and lasting reductions in the waiting times at the law centres. This first phase concentrated on upgrading the capacity of existing law centres by the introduction of an additional 41 staff, including 12 solicitor staff. As a result of these initiatives, by the end of 1993, waiting lists at the law centres had significantly reduced.
The £4.972 million which I secured in 1994, and the £6.2 million which I secured in 1995 as grant-in-aid to the Legal Aid Board were sufficient to enable the board to proceed with the second phase of its programme of development. The additional money allowed for the expansion of the board's network of law centres by the opening of ten full-time and four part-time law centres, as provided for in the development programme. It ensured that by the end of the second phase all counties had either a full-time or part-time law centre. At the beginning of 1994 there were 16 full-time and 19 part-time law centres located strategically throughout the country. There are now 26 full-time law centres. In addition, there are 17 part-time law centres — a total in all of 43 centres. By the end of 1996 the number of full-time centres will have increased to 30.
The 1994 and 1995 allocations enabled an additional 24 solicitors and 34 support staff to be employed to service the new law centres and an additional six staff to be employed to supplement the staff of the board's head office. In 1996, it will be possible for the board to recruit a further six solicitors, 12 support staff, and three additional staff for the head office. One of the head office staff — an assistant principal on loan from the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications — has already taken up this position in a temporary capacity.
The numbers of people provided with legal services by the Legal Aid Board continue to increase. In 1995, approximately 11,400 persons received assistance from the board — an increase of 13 per cent on 1994. The number of persons provided with legal aid -representation in court — increased by 25 per cent from 3,282 to 4,060 — while the numbers provided with legal advice was 7 per cent higher. Notwithstanding the increased demand on the board's services there has been a continuing reduction in the waiting times at its 26 law centres.
In early 1993 the waiting period in half of the board's centres was between one and seven months — in 50 per cent of the board's centres the waiting period is now two months or less. In the remaining half of the centres in 1993 the waiting period ranged between eight months and 14 months — now in all of the remaining 50 per cent of the centres the waiting period ranges between two and six months, and no centre has a waiting period in excess of six months. Having regard to what has been achieved to date, it is reasonable, to assume that when the expansion and development programme for the board is fully implemented, it will serve further to enhance the level of service available to legal aid applicants under the scheme of civil legal aid and advice.
In 1994 1 increased the grant aid to the free legal advice centres, more commonly known as FLAC, to £45,000. This increased grant was also paid in 1995 and will again be paid in 1996.
I turn now to Subhead D, Family Mediation, for which £300,000 is provided in 1996. This is the same as was provided in Estimates for 1994 and in 1995, when £149,000 and £260,000, respectively, were actually expended. This year's allocation is more than double the amount allocated to the Service in 1993.
The Family Mediation Service was established in Dublin in July, 1986, on a pilot basis for three years and has continued on that basis ever since. The purpose of the service is to enable couples, whose marriages have broken down, amicably to resolve outstanding matters without having to resort to the courts. The Family Mediation Service offers couples a way of negotiating separation agreements which deal with such matters as maintenance, the division of property, and custody of, and access to, their children, with the help of a neutral third party. The service has handled approximately 250 cases annually. On average, couples require about six sessions, each of two hours' duration. The service is provided free of charge.
While it is my firm belief that it is necessary that our family law provisions are modernised, and that the courts are given full powers to enable justice to be done to the parties to broken marriages, nonetheless where there exists a willingness among parties to attempt to settle the terms of their separation without having recourse to litigation they should be facilitated to do so by way of mediation.
The importance of mediation where a couple have decided to separate is recognised in the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989, section 5 of which requires a solicitor acting for an applicant for a decree of separation to ensure the applicant's awareness of alternative separation proceedings and to assist attempts at reconciliation. This is because in some of these cases the immediate resort to the law could ruin the prospect of a voluntary settlement which would be in the better interests of the parties and their dependants. It is also my belief that a high proportion of family law cases which come before the courts can and should be resolved by the use of the mediation approach, without recourse to litigation. I trust that the fund available to the service this year will go a considerable distance towards popularising mediation as a means of avoiding the sort of conflict that is, regrettably, so often a feature of litigation on family law matters. It is proposed that all family mediation services provided by the State should be centrally controlled through the Dublin centre.
While the State-funded family mediation service operates from a premises in Dublin, its services are not confined to those resident in Dublin. The increased allocation available to the service in 1996 will facilitate the continued expansion and development of the service which has now been established on a permanent basis. In order better to provide for people seeking mediation, I opened a second family mediation centre in Limerick in recent weeks. The new second centre was opened in Limerick on the basis that the major demand for judicial separation outside Dublin is in Cork, Galway and Limerick and, of these, Limerick is best placed geographically to provide a service to this catchment area.
Prior to 1994 grants to the voluntary organisations providing marriage guidance and counselling services were administered by the Department of Health through the health boards and, from time to time, supplementary grants were paid by the Department of Social Welfare. There has been little increase over the years in the amounts provided to the various organisations. Neither was there co-ordination of decision making in the process with several Departments involved at any one time.
Work of immense value is done by the many voluntary organisations engaged in the area of marriage counselling for couples encountering difficulty in their marriage. I secured funding of £750,000 for those organisations in 1994 and again in 1995 — an increase of 150 per cent over previous years. I am glad to be able to say that this allocation is being increased further in 1996 to £900,000. 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 to ensure a nationwide coverage. It will also provide assistance for the first time to organisations providing counselling services to children whose parents have separated.
In 1995 58 organisations benefited from assistance. Already in 1996 the first instalment of grant aid to marriage counselling and child counselling organisations, totalling £225,000, has been paid to 68 groups. The organisations in question can look forward to two more cheques this year, and I expect that major additional benefits will as a result accrue to those members of the public who find themselves in need of marriage counselling, and similarly to children.
The Government's aim in increasing funding was to enable organisations involved in marriage counselling to expand and develop their services. As a result of the payment of the grants in question the total number of counselling hours provided by grant aided organisations increased by more than 40 per cent in 1994: from 44,166 hours in 1993 to 61,946 hours in 1994. There was an even greater increase in pre-marriage courses in the same period — from 2,279 hours in 1993 to 7,030 hours in 1994, 308 per cent. Further improvements can be expected this year, as many groups are only now bringing on stream new counsellors trained in 1994. It would appear that the scheme has been particularly successful in rural areas. While urban centres have benefited from significant increases, rural centres, some of which were on the verge of closing, have had an injection of enthusiasm as well as additional volunteers as a result of the additional funding.
The pilot child care initiative, which I had included in the 1994 Estimates for the first time, has been continued into this year. The scheme is intended to assist the initiation of projects for the establishment, on a pilot basis, of child care measures, utilising the skills of trained local people, to enable local residents to undertake education, training, retraining and employment opportunities which they would otherwise be unable to do, in the absence of a child care facility.
The scheme is being administered, on behalf of my Department, by Area Development Management (ADM) Limited, an independent company designated by the Government and the European Commission to support integrated local economic and social development in co-operation with relevant area partnership companies established by the Government in designated disadvantaged areas. A provision of £800,000 has been included in my Department's Estimate for 1996. At the end of May a total of £200,000 — in 1996 — had been issued to ADM towards the cost of grants for approved projects. Additional instalments will be paid in line with progress achieved in the projects. An evaluation of the child care scheme to determine the extent to which its objectives have been achieved is underway and a report is to be ready later this year.
During the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union I intend to pursue two draft directives in the area of equality. These directives will deal with an amendment to the Equal Treatment Directive following a recent judgment of the European Court of Justice in relation to positive action and a Directive on the Burden of Proof in equality cases. The recent judgment of the European Court of Justice in relation to positive action — in the Kalanke case — determined that a German law which provided for an automatic quota-related system for appointment to posts in the Bremen public service exceeded the exception for positive action laid down in the Equal Treatment Directive. This judgment has created uncertainty in relation to the types of positive action permissible under the Equal Treatment Directive. It would be intended, therefore, to amend the directive to clarify the type of positive action measures which are permissible following the Kalanke judgment.
The second phase of the consultation process under the Social Protocol of the Maastricht Treaty on the burden of proof proposal is nearing completion. It is unlikely that agreement will be concluded between the social partners in that forum. In that event, I am preparing to press forward with any initiative tabled by the Commission for the Irish Presidency. Such an initiative will deal with the apportionment of the evidential burden of proof in equality cases. The intention of the proposal would be to seek to ensure that no unreasonable level of preliminary evidence is required of a person wishing to pursue a legal remedy in an equality case, before the burden of proof shifts to the other party. I will also be giving support to the proposed Council recommendation on equality in decision making, which is likely to be adopted during the Italian Presidency.
On the law reform side, I will be seeking to progress proposals to extend the 1968 Brussels Convention to family law matters, and to enable accession of the new EU states to the Brussels and Rome Conventions. I will also be anxious to see progress on a draft convention to simplify the transmission of judicial documents across boundaries within the EU.
In the context of the EU Intergovernmental Conference, the Committee will be aware the issue of equality has received some attention. The conference will be an opportunity to explore with our partners how appropriate extensions of the existing equality provisions in the treaties could be achieved.
On the 22 December 1995, the Council of Social Affairs Ministers adopted a decision on the Fourth Medium Term Community Action Programme on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, 1996-2000. The programme seeks to promote equal opportunities for women and men in all aspects of life and to facilitate its achievement through several specific aims which include promoting integration of the dimension of equal opportunities for men and women in all policies and activities, mobilising all the actors in economic and social life to achieve equal opportunities for men and women, reconciling family and working life and promoting a gender balance in decision making.
The fourth action programme will be formally launched by the European Commission during Ireland's Presidency of the European Union at a conference on mainstreaming organised by my Department, which will be held in Dublin Castle during October. My Department has recently conducted a widely targeted information campaign through the national media with a view to encouraging Irish organisations to participate in the programme.
The Social Affairs Council reached political agreement on a directive on the framework agreement on parental leave on 29 March 1996. This directive will be formally adopted by the Social Affairs Council at its meeting on 3 and 4 June next. I was happy to support the proposal which will provide for workers, both men and women, a period of up to three months' leave at home to care for young children. The availability of the leave, not just to mothers but to fathers too, will have beneficial effects not only for the reconciliation of work and family life but for a more balanced distribution of child care responsibilities within the family.
Member states have a minimum of two years to implement the directive. With a view to implementing the directive within that timescale I intend to initiate consultations, initially with other Departments and later with other interests, in particular the social partners, on the most appropriate legislative approaches for the implementation of the proposal.
I recently decided it was time to update my Department's 1993 report on equal opportunities in the public sector. Initial contacts have been made with major Departments on follow up surveys in their sectors and the question of extending the proposed survey to public service employments not previously covered is also being considered.
Turning to the National Women's Council, the council receives the bulk of its funding from my Department. The allocation for 1996 is £170,000, an increase of over 20 per cent on last year's allocation. The council is completely independent of Government.
The extension of the Employment Equality Agency's brief under the proposed new equality legislation will involve a major expansion of the agency's responsibilities and workload. I am providing an allocation of £750,000 for the agency this year to offset the additional salary and operational costs which will arise as a result of this expanded role.
The Child Abduction Authority operated in my Department continues to give a valuable service to increasing numbers of cases involving abductions into and out of the State. In 1995 there was a total of 101 new cases involving 184 children. That represents an increase of 12 per cent on the 1994 figures and of 38 per cent on the 1993 figures. The two international conventions under which the authority operates in conjunction with other authorities worldwide are working well in so far as our experience is concerned.
With regard to other international instruments, I am in the process of finalising Ireland's second and third report under the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. I hope to submit these to the UN and publish them in the near future. Also, following the equality legislation, I will bring forward a proposal to ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Race Discrimination.
Concern has been expressed that Ireland has not ratified the Hague Convention on abolition of legalisation of documents — the "apostille" convention — and related conventions between the Council of Europe and EU states. I am anxious to ratify these measures and will submit proposals to Government shortly on the matter.
Notwithstanding the turmoils and successes of 1995, in some ways the major challenges still lie ahead. We are committed to a programme of action to provide the necessary legislation services and policy initiatives to meet the real and substantial needs. Our goal is nothing less than a new horizon of equality and legal rights for all citizens. There are many obstacles in the way to that objective but I hope that Members of the committee will be prepared to join me in working towards that goal.
