Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 7 Oct 1999

Vol. 508 No. 5

Written Answers. - Family Law Act.

Alan Shatter

Ceist:

119 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if, further to Parliamentary Question No. 749 of 29 September 1999 regarding court orders made under the Family Law Act, 1995, he will obtain from the Carlow, Dublin, Dundalk, Ennis and Galway Circuit Court offices information concerning the years ending 31 July 1997 and 31 July 1998; and if he will ensure this information is complete when furnishing the requested information for the year ending 31 July 1999. [19445/99]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The following two tables for the legal years ending 31 July 1997 and 31 July 1998 show the total number of applications made, granted and refused in the Circuit Courts under section 33 of the Family Law Act, 1995, for the abridgement of the three months' notice requirement for marriage.

Circuit Court statistics for the legal year ending 31 July 1999 are still not available. When they become available, I will arrange for a copy of the required statistics to be forwarded to the Deputy.

Section 33, Family Law Act, 1995

Applications for Exemption from 3 Months Notice of Marriage

(Estimated Numbers)

Year Ending 31 July 1997

Circuit CourtOffice	ApplicationsReceived	ApplicationsGranted	ApplicationsRefused
Carlow	18	18	0
Carrick-on-Shannon	5	5	0
Castlebar	8	8	0
Cavan	14	13	0
Clonmel	23	23	0
Cork	67	64	1
Dublin	401	401	0
Dundalk	29	29	0
Ennis	10	10	0
Galway	12	12	0
Kilkenny	7	3	0
Letterkenny	1	1	0
Limerick	40	40	0
Longford	10	10	0
Monaghan	14	8	0
Mullingar	8	9	0
Naas	38	38	0
Portlaoise	11	11	0
Roscommon	1	1	0
Circuit CourtOffice	ApplicationsReceived	ApplicationsGranted	ApplicationsRefused
Sligo	6	6	0
Tralee	31	31	0
Trim	11	11	0
Tullamore	17	17	0
Waterford	20	16	1
Wexford	12	10	1
Wicklow	24	21	0
Total	838	816	3

It should be noted that due to the urgency that often surrounds the making of such applications, applications are often transferred from one Circuit Court office to another Circuit Court office and it is possible that, despite every effort to ensure the accuracy of these figures, some applications may have been counted twice or not counted at all.

Section 33, Family Law Act, 1995

Applications for Exemption from 3 Months Notice of Marriage

(Estimated Numbers)

Year Ending 31 July 1998

Circuit CourtOffice	ApplicationsReceived	ApplicationsGranted	ApplicationsRefused
Carlow	16	16	0
Carrick-on-Shannon	4	4	0
Castlebar	5	5	0
Cavan	16	10	0
Clonmel	27	27	0
Cork	109	109	1
Dublin	411	410	1
Dundalk	38	38	0
Ennis	11	11	0
Galway	12	12	0
Kilkenny	16	16	0
Letterkenny	25	25	0
Limerick	49	48	0
Longford	9	9	0
Monaghan	16	10	0
Mullingar	16	12	0
Naas	44	44	0
Portlaoise	17	17	0
Roscommon	5	4	1
Sligo	4	4	0
Tralee	26	26	0
Trim	20	20	0
Tullamore	27	26	0
Waterford	24	24	0
Wexford	15	15	0
Wicklow	46	43	0
Total	1,008	985	2

It should be noted that due to the urgency that often surrounds the making of such applications, applications are often transferred from one Circuit Court office to another Circuit Court office and it is possible that, despite every effort to ensure the accuracy of these figures, some applications may have been counted twice or not counted at all.