Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 24 November 2022
296. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice the number and names of the persons on the Family Justice Oversight Group; the extent to which the Group influences family law in this jurisdiction; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [58685/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy is aware, last week I published the first National Family Justice Strategy and secured Government approval for the Family Court Bill 2022, which will be published in the coming days.
These initiatives will help reform how our family justice system operates, to make it more efficient, more user-friendly and – where possible – less adversarial, leading to the development of a system that puts children and families at the centre of its work. This is a key commitment in my Justice Plan 2022. The Family Court Bill will provide many of the building blocks essential to the reform of the family justice system. The Bill will create new dedicated Family Courts as divisions within the existing court structures, with Family Court judges assigned on a full-time basis. To support the legislative changes proposed in the Family Court Bill, I established a Family Justice Oversight Group to develop, drive and coordinate the first national Strategy for the reform of the family justice system. The Group is chaired by a senior official in the Department of Justice, and the full details of its members can be found in the appendices of the published Strategy, which I have attached for the Deputy's convenience. The Strategy has nine goals and over 50 actions, which recognise that much needs to be done to improve the current system. In particular, the Strategy recognises the importance of putting children at the centre of family justice in matters which affect them, and adequately hearing their voice in the family justice system. The Strategy is foundational in nature, recognising the many issues that currently exist with the system and the steps needed to begin its much-needed reform. One of the key goals in the Strategy is legislative reform, with a number of actions to be completed during the lifetime of the Strategy, such as progressing the development of the Child Care (Amendment) Bill and engaging with the Courts Service to implement changes to be provided for in the Family Court Bill. The legislation on its own cannot deliver transformation. Its success will depend on the implementation and delivery of all the other strategic and operational aspects of this Strategy. Implementing these actions will be the responsibility primarily of the majority of the organisations comprising the Family Justice Oversight Group. However, some of them will require engagement with and expert input from other bodies for their implementation to be successful. In recognising this, the majority of the membership of the Oversight Group will become the Family Justice Implementation Group (FJIG) and will act as the primary implementation structure for the Strategy. It will provide leadership across the system and within the respective member organisations, embed reforms and drive their implementation.
In terms of family law, any legislation in this area remains the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, and ultimately the Oireachtas, and the development of jurisprudence in relation to family law is, of course, a matter for the judiciary in their independent role under the Constitution.
Appendix I Membership of Family Justice Oversight Group
Department of Justice and Equality
Oonagh Buckley (Chair) – Deputy Secretary General
Andrew Munro – Assistant Secretary, Civil Policy and Legislation
Stjohn O’Connor – Director, Civil Justice Governance
Liam Coen – Principal Officer, Civil Justice Policy (Access to Justice)
Tracy O’Keeffe - Principal Officer, Civil Justice Legislation
Gerry McDonagh – Principal Officer, Civil Justice Governance
Louise Sandom - Principal Officer, Transparency
Louise O’Meara (Secretary) – Assistant Principal, Civil Justice Policy (Access to Justice)
Judiciary
The Hon Mr Justice John Jordan – High Court
His Honour Judge Paul Kelly - President of the District Court
County Registrar
Deirdre Burke – County Registrar for Wexford and Kilkenny
Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth
Ciara Pigeon – Principal Officer, Parenting Support Policy Unit
Lara Hynes – Acting Assistant Secretary, Tusla Governance and Child Policy Division (from February 2022), Principal Officer, Child Care Legislation and Children’s Rights Policy Unit (to February 2022)
Department of Public Expenditure and Reform
Marianne Nolan – Principal Officer, Justice Vote, Public Expenditure Division
Legal Aid Board
John McDaid – Chief Executive
Joan Crawford –Director of Internal Service Delivery
Courts Service
Peter Mullan - Head of Directorate, Circuit and District Courts Operations
Emer Darcy - Head of Family Law Reform
With special thanks to former Group members:
His Honour Colin Daly – President of the District Court
Her Honour Judge Petria McDonnell – Circuit Court
John O’Callaghan – DoJ, Assistant Secretary, Civil Policy and Legislation
Yvonne White – DoJ, Head of Civil Governance Function
Angela McDonnell – Legal Aid Board, Director, Strategy & Decision-Making
Regina Terry – DoJ, Principal Officer, Civil Justice Policy (Access to Justice)
Mary O’Callaghan (Secretary) - DoJ, Assistant Principal, Civil Justice Policy (Access to Justice)
Matthew Sewell (Secretary)- DoJ, Administrative Officer, Civil Justice Policy (Access to Justice)
