I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 and 32 together.
I can confirm that it is the Government's intention to hold a referendum on divorce in 1995 as promised in its policy document, A Government of
Renewal.
I have made clear to the House on several occasions that the timing of the referendum would have to take account of the High Court's decision that is under appeal to the Supreme Court concerning the constitutionality of the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act, 1989. We now know that the Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing of the case before it to begin on 25 April next. The House will appreciate that, since the 1989 Act provisions will influence any divorce legislation, the Government's decision on the form of that legislation may have to take into account what the Supreme Court has to say about those provisions. The provisions in question concern the important area of the grounds for a separation and the type of property orders that can be made in support of dependent spouses and children following the granting of a decree of separation by the courts.
The Government accepts that a decision on the date of the referendum must await the outcome of the Supreme Court's deliberations on the 1989 Act case. A date in the autumn is now likely to be most feasible for a referendum, assuming that the Supreme Court has given its ruling well in advance of that time. The timescale for a referendum must allow for about eight weeks or so between publication of a Bill, its passage through both Houses and the date of the referendum.
In reply to questions on 31 January 1995 I gave details of the legislative and administrative measures which have been, and are being, put in place for the protection and support of spouses and children following marriage breakdown. Many of those measures are important in their own right and demonstrate the importance which this Government and previous Governments have attached to this area. The current measures are the Family Law Bill, 1994, now at Committee Stage in the Seanad, having been passed by this House, the Civil Legal Aid Bill, 1995, also at Committee Stage in the Seanad and a domestic violence Bill which I propose to publish in the near future. In addition, substantial funding has been provided in the 1995 Estimates for mediation, marriage guidance and counselling services and legal aid. Provisions dealing with the tax aspects of marital breakdown have also been initiated by way of amendments to the Family Law Bill and important legislative proposals to ensure that the social welfare aspects of divorce are addressed are being prepared in the Department of Social Welfare.
The main measure required to be brought forward before the referendum is the Bill to amend the Constitution. Various draft amendments were published in the 1992 White Paper on Marital Breakdown and I have on a number of occasions indicated in the House that they are good examples of the different forms that the amendment might take. They should not, however, be regarded as a comprehensive list. The Cabinet sub-committee on divorce has been considering the possible avenues of approach and when the committee and the Government is in a position to decide on the final proposals, taking into account the Supreme Court's decision, the details will be announced in the normal way by publication of a Bill.
I propose to publish, in conjunction with publication of the Amendment of the Constitution Bill, the draft of a divorce Bill which would be enacted in the event of a "yes" vote in the referendum. That draft Bill will set out the powers which the court would have to make orders in support of spouses and children following the granting of a decree of divorce. The provisions will, in substance, be the same as provisions which I initiated in the Family Law Bill, 1994 for situations where a foreign decree of divorce is entitled to recognition in the State and they would include provision for orders in relation to maintenance and in relation to all property, be it the family home, a business, a farm or company shares, as well as pensions. The intention is to fully inform the voters about the details of the Government's divorce proposals in the run-up to the referendum.