Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 February 2024
31. Deputy Colm Burke asked the Minister for Justice what action her Department is taking to improve access to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as mediation and arbitration, as a means of resolving legal disputes outside of the courts system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8272/24]
View answerThe formation of a Mediation Council of Ireland is a component of the Mediation Act 2017 and the overall development of mediation throughout Ireland. The Council will play an important role in promoting public awareness of mediation, maintaining and developing mediation standards – including continuous professional development – and establishing a national register of mediators.
My Department is currently working with the mediation sector to support their work on its establishment. To that end, a plenary meeting with all mediation sector representatives has been scheduled for today, Thursday 22 February, and senior officials from my Department will be in attendance.
The Deputy will also be aware that I published the Family Justice Strategy in November 2022. The Strategy sets out the vision for a coordinated, consistent and user-focused family justice system, which helps children and families obtain earlier, appropriate resolutions in a simpler, fairer, and more effective way. It aims to achieve this through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals.
Goal 4 of the Strategy aims to promote more co-operative, less adversarial ways for individuals, children and families to try to resolve disputes. This goal contains a number of actions relating to the role of mediation in family justice.
The Courts Service has, as part of its family justice work, provided information on the potential use of mediation in family law on its new Family Law Information Hub. It also signposts mediation on guardianship, custody, access and maintenance court forms.
In addition, under this Goal the Legal Aid Board has provided training to its staff and those of the Courts Service to inform members of the public on mediation and the services available. It has also commenced a private panel of family mediators to supplement the work of the Family Mediation Service.
In 2022, the Legal Aid Board introduced an Advanced Family Mediation Trainee Programme to train mediators to work in the family mediation area and to meet the current eligibility criteria to apply for a position as a family mediator in the Legal Aid Board. Entry to the training was via a recruitment competition, which was advertised nationwide. Nine trainees completed this programme in 2023.
Part of the Family Justice Strategy and a key element of the programme of family justice reforms, is the establishment of a family court as divisions within the existing court structures. This is set out in the Family Courts Bill 2022. The Bill completed Second Stage in the Seanad in 2023.
The Bill provides a set of guiding principles aimed at ensuring that the family court system and family law proceedings will operate in an efficient and user-friendly manner. Key among the guiding principles is encouraging and facilitating, as far as possible, the resolution of issues in dispute by means of alternative resolution methods, such as mediation.
The courts, legal practitioners and parties to family law proceedings will be required to have regard to these principles in the conduct of family law proceedings.
