I move: To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "notes that: — family disputes can be difficult and traumatic for those involved, particularly for children and victims of domestic violence; — litigation to resolve those disputes can itself, despite the best efforts of judges, courts officials, and legal representatives, be very challenging for those involved; — family law proceedings concerning child custody, access, guardianship and childcare matters allow attendance and reporting from specified persons under statutory provisions, including Section 40 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, provided that the anonymity of the parties is preserved at all times; — the Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025, aims to create a family justice system that works better for everyone engaging with it, but particularly for those who need additional supports and protections, such as those affected by domestic violence or vulnerable parents and children; and — the Government announced in April 2026, the Implementation Plan for the Family Justice Act 2024, which will deliver significant reforms to the family justice system, and ensure that the family courts are more user-friendly, less costly, and place the needs of children at the centre of family law proceedings; acknowledges that: — transparency and promoting a greater understanding of the family law system is critical to maintaining and building trust in it, and at the same time, those who seek the assistance of the Courts in resolving their family justice disputes need to be assured that their privacy, and that of their children, will be appropriately maintained; — there has been significant progress in family law reform, including: — the establishment of a Family Law Reporting Project, which aims to enhance transparency for the public about private family law proceedings, and build confidence in the judicial determination of private family law disputes, while continuing to ensure the privacy of those proceedings for children and families; — the detailed examination being undertaken by officials on findings and recommendations from the Report on the Operation of the In Camera Rule in Family Law Proceedings, including a comparative review of the Transparency Project and the use of Transparency Orders in England and Wales; — the publication of the Judicial Guidelines on the Commissioning, Preparation, Content and Usage of Expert Reports in Family Law Proceedings in 2026, which aims to promote consistency and best practice in the use of welfare reports in private family law proceedings; — the ongoing work being undertaken by officials in the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, to progress work on establishing a panel of family law assessors, and the panel will address a number of issues identified in the Review of the Role of Expert Reports in the Family Law Process, including lack of regulation of experts and lack of adequate training or accreditation; — the establishment of a Children's Court Advocate Pilot Project, which will apply to all applications for guardianship, custody, and/or access, test a new way of hearing the voice of children in private family law cases, and provide regulation of assessors and consistency of practice; and — the establishment of a Family Justice Training Working Group in 2024, to review existing training needs for those working within family justice and to develop effective and relevant training programmes; and resolves that: — good progress has been made in respect of the Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025, and promoting transparency and a greater understanding of the family justice system; — improved awareness and understanding of the operation of the In Camera Rule is integral to informing future reforms of the area, and the establishment of the Family Law Reporting Project will play a key role in this regard; and — monitoring and measuring the impact of these reforms will determine their effectiveness and inform any further policy or legislative developments required.". I thank Deputy Gogarty for tabling his motion. I welcome that we are having this debate on family law, transparency, child welfare and reform of the in camera rule. The first thing that needs to be acknowledged is that family disputes and particularly family law proceedings are difficult and traumatic for those involved, particularly for children and victims of domestic violence. The reason they are so difficult and traumatic is that they are emotional, they are personal and they deal with very sensitive issues in persons' lives. I also recognise that litigation to resolve those disputes can be very challenging for the litigants involved in it. It is also very challenging for the judges who have to reach a determination based on the evidence that is presented before them in family law proceedings. I say this respectfully. As legislators and policymakers, we should all repeat the desire that where possible people who find themselves in family law proceedings should seek to reach an amicable resolution in respect of those proceedings. There is a huge advantage in parents and partners being able to reach agreement on issues such as access to children, custody of children and, indeed, maintenance because they retain control over the resolution that is achieved. If there is not agreement on those issues by the individuals involved in the litigation, necessarily the court will impose its settlement. Notwithstanding the efforts of the court to try to reach the best solution that it thinks appropriate, an agreed resolution is always better than an imposed resolution. I want Deputy Gogarty and his colleagues to know that I am fully committed to reforming the family justice system through the implementation of the Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025. This is an ambitious programme of reform and significant progress has been made in promoting transparency and greater understanding of the family justice system. Several key actions under the strategy are highly relevant to the motion that Deputy Gogarty has put forward. I will address each of these in turn as well as the amendment proposed by Deputy Gibney. First, I will deal with the in camera rule which is referred to in the motion. The Constitution requires that justice be administered in public. Transparency and promoting a greater understanding of the family law system are critical to maintaining and building trust in it. At the same time, we need to recognise that those who find themselves before the courts seeking resolution to their family justice disputes need to be assured that their privacy and that of their children will be protected and maintained. As committed to in the family justice strategy and as mentioned by Deputy Gogarty, I commissioned a review of the operation of the in camera rule in family law proceedings. I published it in May 2025. It sets out 21 recommendations which I am considering. Deputy Gogarty has made a number of suggestions, including the introduction of stand-alone legislation on the in camera rule. I am giving consideration to not only legislative change, but also a broader range of measures that could be promptly introduced, such as improving awareness and training for parties, legal professionals and members of the media on the operation of the rule. Deputy Gogarty mentioned permitting attendance and reporting by accredited journalists and legal bloggers. I remind him that family law proceedings concerning child custody, access, guardianship and childcare matters allow attendance and reporting from specified persons under statutory provisions, such as section 40 of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, provided that the anonymity of the parties is preserved at all times. I think everyone in this House would agree that it is important to preserve the anonymity of individuals, particularly children, who are before the family law courts. I acknowledge that improving awareness and understanding of the operation of the in camera rule is integral to informing future reforms in the area. In that context, I commissioned the establishment of the private family law reporting project under the leadership of Dr. Carol Coulter. This three-year project will observe a representative sample of cases across different court jurisdictions and geographical areas and, I believe, enhance transparency. It is important to acknowledge the Child Law Project, which was established in 2012 and attends childcare proceedings that would otherwise be held in private in order to conduct research on childcare law. The Child Law Project, commissioned by the Department of children, independently observes and publishes anonymised information about in camera childcare proceedings. I now want to deal with another contentious issue, which is the role of expert reports. These are reports sometimes referred to as section 47 reports. Another key action in my family justice strategy is to review the role of expert reports in family law proceedings. That review, published in June 2024, sets out 20 recommendations. Earlier this month - in fact, I think it was about two or three weeks ago - I published the judicial guidelines on the commissioning of preparation content and use of expert reports in family law proceedings and launched them along with the Chief Justice. They aim to promote consistency and best practice in the use of welfare reports in private family law proceedings. In parallel, a voice of the child working group is progressing the development of the voice of the child report template and guidelines to ensure consistency. This group is also establishing a children's court advocate pilot project. Work is also under way to establish a panel of family law assessors, which will address concerns such as lack of regulation and adequate training or accreditation in respect of the provision of reports. The third issue I want to deal with is the training working group and family justice strategy. In response to Deputy Gogarty's point regarding the need for clear education and training, I wish to highlight that there has been significant progress. The strategy established a working group in July 2024 and is reviewing existing training and developing effective, relevant training programmes for family justice stakeholders, such as the Garda. There is also a 2025-26 implementation plan for the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, DSGBV, which is a relevant part of this. It outlines a mandatory DSGBV training for those working in family law. One of the suggestions by Deputy Gibney in her amendment is that judges be provided with bench books. My own view in respect of that amendment is that this would probably be an interference with the separation of powers under the Constitution for the Government to start intruding on the independence of the Judiciary by providing it with bench books guiding it on how to administer justice in the courts. The Judicial Council supports judges with comprehensive training programmes and the development of appropriate materials, such as bench books. A training working group was established in July 2024, which comprises membership from key Departments, State agencies and legal professional bodies, including the Judicial Council. I will now look at the family courts. The Family Courts Act was enacted by the Oireachtas in 2024. It is a key component of my strategy and contains a number of provisions designed to make the family court process more focused on the needs of children, as well as being user friendly, safer and less costly. Earlier this month, I published the implementation plan for the Family Courts Act, which will deliver on these aims. In response to Deputy Gogarty's point on providing clearer guidance to parents, improving information and awareness is a key priority under the strategy. The Courts Service has made significant progress through its family law information hub, which provides accessible, plain language guidance to help families better understand the system. As regards the Deputy's call for strengthening statutory oversight of Tusla, it is important to note that as an independent agency, Tusla is independent in the performance of its functions. It has a very difficult task to perform, as I am sure everyone will agree. The framework in place for the governance and oversight of Tusla is comprised of relationships of oversight, direction and reporting between the Minister for the Department of children and Tusla. There are also a range of formal arrangements in place between the Department of children and that agency. In addition, Tusla services and individual social workers are subject to multiple levels of oversight. To conclude, I thank the Deputy for bringing this motion on these important issues. I am working in respect of the areas he has highlighted in the motion, particularly the in camera rule and the section 47 reports. However, I will conclude by saying what I said at the outset. I know it may be difficult for people in family law proceedings, which are difficult proceedings. They are not like ordinary civil court proceedings, such as commercial proceedings or proceedings between entities that do not have any emotional involvement. Family law proceedings are very emotional and contentious, but it is important that people recognise that they can seek to control the outcome of those proceedings by reaching a resolution themselves in respect of access and custody. Ultimately, that is what the court is going to do.

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