Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 11 April 2024
166. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Minister for Justice to respond to correspondence and proposals set out by an organisation (details supplied) in respect of the Family Courts Bill 2022; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15768/24]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, in November 2022 I set out in the First Family Justice Strategy an ambitious vision for a family justice system that will focus on the needs and rights of children and which will assist their parents in making decisions that affect all of the family. This will be achieved through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals, with timelines for delivery up to the end of 2025.
A key part of this plan is the creation of a more efficient and user-friendly family court system that puts the family and children at the centre of its work.
The aim of the Family Courts Bill, which is currently being considered by the Oireachtas, and the establishment of Family Court divisions within existing Court structures is to enable family law issues to be dealt with in the simplest and most cost efficient way, reducing the stress faced by litigants in such cases.
The proposed extension of jurisdiction in judicial separation and divorce cases should be particularly helpful in uncontested cases. Giving jurisdiction to the Family District Court to rule in such matters is considered to be appropriate. Many of the issues to be dealt with by the court, in uncontested cases in particular, will have already been agreed between the parties to the case before they go into court and what remains is the granting of the appropriate order or decree by the court.
Giving concurrent jurisdiction to all three Family Court jurisdictional levels in such cases will enable less contentious cases to be determined in the lowest appropriate Court jurisdiction at a lower cost to Court users.
Among the many goals in the Strategy is to develop better ways to manage, collect and share information within the family justice system while maintaining privacy and dignity for children and parents.
This poses challenges, especially in family law, where maintaining privacy and dignity for children and parents is so important and indeed, legally required.
A key action within this goal is the research my Department is commissioning to examine the operation of the in-camera rule and recommend changes to it
My Department issued a request for tender for this research and preparations are under way for contracts to be signed.
Once commenced, the research is expected to take six months to complete.
This new research will also examine any practice from other jurisdictions which could be applied in the Irish context. We need to ensure transparency, certainty and the continued protection of both the families involved in family law proceedings and the professionals who may engage with them.
An important goal in the Family Justice Strategy is to promote more co-operative, less adversarial, more sustainable, 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 on its new Family Law Information Hub information on the potential for use of mediation in family law.It also signposts mediation on guardianship, custody, access and maintenance court forms.
As part of the Strategy, 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 also provides a private panel of family mediators to supplement the vital 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.
My Department engages with stakeholders an ongoing basis on the issue of family justice reform and examines all submissions received including those received recently from Safe Ireland. Officials of my Department have previously met with Safe Ireland to discuss issues relating to the Family Courts Bill. Submissions received on the Family Courts Bill are being considered, and any amendments found to be necessary and appropriate will be introduced.
