Vol. 401 No. 1
79 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Justice if he will consider amending the Family Home Protection Act, 1976, to remove the anomaly whereby the agreement of an absent spouse is required to re-mortgage a house, even though he or she may have relinquished their interest in the house; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I do not agree that an anomaly exists in this area. While the Family Home Protection Act, 1976 prevents a spouse from disposing of the family home by sale, mortgage, re-mortgage etc. without the prior written consent of the other spouse it also empowers the court to dispense with the need for that spouse's consent on the ground either that the refusal to consent in unreasonable or that that spouse is in desertion. The Act in addition empowers the court to give its consent on behalf of a spouse where, for example, that spouse cannot be found.
