John Brady
Question:93. Deputy John Brady asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality the estimated full year cost of setting up an agency comparable to the child maintenance service in Northern Ireland. [13854/17]
View answerTuesday, 21 March 2017
Questions (93)
Written answers
Under Irish law, issues arising from disagreements about the provision of maintenance for dependent children, or failure by persons with maintenance responsibilities for children to provide proper maintenance, are determined by the courts. Relevant legislation in this area includes section 11 of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, the Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976, section 8 of the Family Law Act 1995, section 13 of the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 and section 45 of the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 provided for a number of improvements in the law relating to maintenance of children.
The legislative arrangements relating to child maintenance in Northern Ireland are significantly different to those that apply in this jurisdiction.
The establishment in this State of an agency comparable to the child maintenance service in Northern Ireland would require substantial changes to the legal framework for determining issues relating to child maintenance. The requirement of Article 34 of the Constitution that justice be administered in courts established by law by judges appointed in the manner provided by the Constitution is a matter that would have to be carefully considered.
The full year cost of establishing a child maintenance agency would depend on a number of factors, including the specific functions that such an agency would perform and the expected level of demand for the services of such an agency. As I have no plans at present for the establishment of a child maintenance agency, it is not possible at this stage to provide an estimate of the establishment costs.
The Deputy will be aware that the general objective of the Mediation Bill 2017, which is currently before Dáil Éireann, is to promote mediation as a viable, effective and efficient alternative to court proceedings, including proceedings relating to maintenance of children, thereby reducing legal costs, speeding up the resolution of disputes and relieving the stress involved in court proceedings.
In addition, the Government is committed to significant reform of the courts, including the establishment of a family law court structure that is streamlined, more efficient, and less costly. My Department is working on a General Scheme of a Family Court Bill which will aim to streamline family law court processes, clarify jurisdictional issues and provide for a set of guiding principles to help ensure that the Family Court will operate in a user-friendly and efficient manner. The intention is to establish a dedicated Family Court within the existing court structures. The Family Court Bill will support the proposals in the Mediation Bill 2017 by encouraging greater use of alternative dispute resolution to assist in more timely resolution of family law cases.