Pringle says there is real need for new, specialised family law court system
- Updated: 29th October 2024
Pringle says there is real need for new, specialised family law court system
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said there is a real need for a new, specialised family law court system, citing a survey that showed frontline court staff felt the current system was not best-supporting families’ broader needs.
Addressing the Dáil last Thursday, Deputy Pringle said: “There is no doubt that Ireland is an outlier. Unlike many other European countries, we do not have a specialised family law court system.”
The deputy was speaking on Family Courts Bill 2022, which is to provide for the establishment of a Family High Court, Family Circuit Court and Family District Court. He called the legislation “well overdue” and said he had been following its progression as a member of the Justice Committee.
Deputy Pringle said: “A survey of frontline court staff, conducted by the Family Law Reform Programme Team, gave a very interesting insight into the state of the current family law system. It showed that 61% of staff felt that the court buildings don’t support people in the family law process and that 90% of staff felt technology was not being used in the best way to support people, either.
“Overall, their findings showed that staff felt that the current system was not best supporting the broader needs that families have.
“Having to deal with the judicial system can be stressful for families who are often already experiencing distress in their lives. It is so important that families and children feel safe, supported and heard throughout the process,” he said.
The deputy said: “It is for this reason that I am broadly supporting this legislation today and I welcome Section 8, the guiding principles that underpin this legislation, which ensures that where proceedings involve the welfare of a child, the best interests of the child are a primary consideration. The child is to be kept informed in an age-appropriate manner and the views of the child are ascertained and given due weight, having regard to the age and maturity of that child as well.
“It is vitally important that the rights of the child are protected in family law proceedings and that children can feel their voice is important and their input heard.
“Ensuring that children are allowed to express themselves and that the voice of the child is properly heard requires sufficient staffing and funding as well. Our current justice system already lacks adequate funding and is failing to meet its current standards.
“The Minister for Justice must ensure that, with this legislation, comes significant funding to ensure that it can be enacted fully and properly,” he said.
Deputy Pringle said: “Concerns around cost and accessibility were raised at the Justice Committee and one of the Committee’s recommendations in the 2019 Report stated: ‘If the constitutional aspiration that the voice of the child to be heard is to be made a reality, there is a need to establish a State panel of experts who would be available to the courts to produce a report within a reasonable timeframe.’
“It is so important that this recommendation is taken seriously, Minister. I have raised the implementation issue multiple times over the last few years. We can introduce the best legislation in the world, but it doesn’t matter if we are not serious about implementing it,” he said.
The deputy also echoed the concerns of some NGOs about Alternative Dispute Resolutions (APRs) in the legislation.
Deputy Pringle said: “While the APR process is positive in terms of reducing costs and making the system more accessible, that can’t be at the expense of safety in some cases, particularly cases where there is domestic violence.”
The deputy acknowledged that Minister Helen McEntee said in her statement on Thursday that she intends to minimize the risk when alternative dispute mechanisms may not be appropriate.
Deputy Pringle said: “One of the concerns is that it is daunting for people to go into the court system because they’re not familiar with it but for somebody in an abuse situation or a situation where they’re under threat from their ex-partner, that can be an even more daunting situation. And to ensure that the proper mechanisms are used for dealing with those cases, where that protection can be in place, I think is vitally important.”
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