I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute on behalf of the Government and the Minister for Education and Youth and our Department. I welcome the commitment given by the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, to enhance transparency and public understanding of the family law system and ensure that the right of children and parents to privacy is upheld. In relation to open reporting, in The Operation of the In Camera Rule in Family Law Proceedings, recommendation 9 proposes introducing a right for accredited members of the media to attend all family law hearings and a right to communicate with parties on an anonymised basis. This approach is similar to the recent developments in England and Wales under their open reporting provisions. Expanding upon the In Camera report, officials in my Department are conducting an in-depth international comparative review, including on the transparency project on the use of transparency orders in England and Wales. This will form part of my Department’s ongoing examination of the report’s recommendations and their feasibility in practice. As the Minister mentioned earlier, attendance and reporting by specified persons in family law proceedings is provided for under statutory provisions, including section 40 of the Civil Liability Act 2004, as amended, provided that the anonymity of the parties is preserved at all times. I note the important role the media plays in attending to and reporting on cases, supporting transparency and raising awareness of these important issues. The establishment of the private family law reporting project earlier this year will further promote transparency in family law proceedings. This project will contribute to greater confidence and trust in the family justice system and will better inform family law policy and reform. It is expected that this project will produce key information for the Department to support the ongoing development of family justice policy and legislation. The Minister will receive the first volume of case reports later this year. I acknowledge that family disputes are difficult. I strongly sympathise with the difficult experiences that many children and families face during family breakdowns. The Minister for justice remains committed to the ongoing reform of the family justice system to improve the rights and protections of children and families. As part of the family justice strategy, the Department of justice undertook a public consultation and independent research in respect of parental alienation. The findings of both were analysed and, on foot of them, Department officials developed a policy paper on how best to address the issue. Despite the highly contested nature of this concept, there was consensus in the public consultation that the means to address parental alienation lie in improvements to the Irish family courts and the family justice system. Reflecting this, the policy paper puts forward six recommendations to address parental alienation. These are also linked to actions outlined in the family justice strategy. One of the recommendations in the policy paper suggested that a review of the expert reports in family law be undertaken. That review was completed and published in 2024. The debate today has called on the Government to establish a regulatory framework for court-appointed experts, including minimum qualifications, accreditations and oversight and ensuring that contested or unvalidated theories are subject to a clear evidential standard. In June 2024, the Department of Justice published a wide-ranging review of the role of expert reports in the family law process. Significant progress has been made in advancing the 20 recommendations contained in that review. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, already referred to the work of the voice of the child working group. By way of further detail, this group was established in 2024, with membership comprising both statutory and voluntary stakeholders in the family justice system. It was established in line with the commitment in goal one of the family justice strategy, namely, supporting children. The group is progressing a number of the recommendations in the review of expert reports, including the development of a voice of the child report template, and guidelines are expected to be published in the coming months which will ensure consistency of approach by experts in supporting children to have their voices heard; and the development of the children's court advocate pilot project, which will be established in two locations, Waterford and Clonmel. The pilot will apply to all applications for guardianship, custody, and access. The service will be free of charge and will trial a new way to hear the voices of children in private family law cases. It will help regulate assessors and ensure consistency of practice. Running alongside the project will be a comprehensive evaluation to assess its effectiveness in achieving its aim of improving how the voice of the child is heard and considered in private family law proceedings. As the Minister mentioned, the implementation plan for a new family court system was published earlier this month. The Family Courts Act 2024 will introduce important changes to the delivery of family justice in Ireland. These changes will include full-time specialist judges assigned to deal with family law within new family court divisions, each run by a new principal judge, and the possibility to provide divorce applications at both District and Circuit Court level. The implementation plan sets out a clear, three-phase approach. Phase 1, beginning in January 2027, will see the rollout of three pilot locations, comprising a family district court, a family circuit court, and a family high court. Judges with specific expertise in dealing with families and family law matters will be assigned to these first court locations on a full-time basis. Phase 2, expected from January 2028, will build on this by adding additional family court divisions to those operational from phase 1. A staggered commencement may involve certain processes coming online at different times, allowing for training and digital capacity to be established as needed and to learn from the results of the evaluation process. Phase 3, expected from January 2029, will lead to the full implementation of the Act. On behalf of the Government and the Minister for justice, in particular, I thank the Deputy for bringing forward this motion and the considered debate we have had in relation to these issues. One of the most important aspects of the family justice system is to ensure we have a system that is as child-focused as possible. We must also make sure that this is the case for all children, whatever abilities and challenges they may have, and mention was made by other Deputies of those who are non-verbal. It is important in this context to make sure that we understand the family law courts and the challenges there, and that in any and all changes made to the regulations we ensure that the voice of the child is a hugely important component of the decisions being made. I know the Minister is acutely aware of that perspective and has given due consideration to all the aspects of it but it is something we have to be very mindful of as we build more expertise into the courts system to better provide for families. We want to make sure all children are heard through that process.

Sentiment score: 0.38