Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 May 2024
241. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Justice if she would consider reducing the amount of time required for legal separation, which currently stands at one year (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21092/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraSection 2(1) of the Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989, as amended, provides for a number of grounds under which a person may apply for a judicial separation. An applicant may apply under one or more of these grounds, which are:
• that the respondent to the application has committed adultery;
• that the respondent to the application has behaved in such a way that the applicant cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent;
• that there has been desertion by the respondent of the applicant for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of the application;
• that the applicant and respondent spouses have lived apart from one another for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of the application.
• that the marriage has broken down to the extent that the court is satisfied in all the circumstances that a normal marital relationship has not existed between the spouses for a period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of the application.
Section 2(3)(a) of the 1989 Act provides that spouses who live in the same dwelling as one another shall be considered as living apart from one another if the court is satisfied that, while so living in the same dwelling, the spouses do not live together as a couple in an intimate and committed relationship. A relationship does not cease to be intimate merely because the relationship is no longer sexual in nature.
While all legislation is always kept under review I have no plans at present to alter the statutory minimum time limits provided for in section 2(1) of the 1989 Act.
