Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire go dtí an Seanad inniu. I also thank him for his opening outline of the statutory intention and content of the Bill. The opening contribution of the Seanad by Senator Seery Kearney was comprehensive and I commend the Senator on her well-known, respected, varied and ongoing work in the area of family law and of supporting parents.

I welcome this legislative initiative and am delighted that the Minister values it. It is very important on a whole range of fronts. For judges to be assigned on a full-time basis is crucial because full-time assignments bring a level of expertise, consistency in judgements, specialist knowledge and ongoing training in this area.

I also welcome that more of the non-contentious matters, as they are referred to, can be dealt with at District Court level because family law is the one area of law that is different to the other ones, where emotions can sometimes run very high. When emotions run very high, people sometimes do not act in their best financial interest and it can be very expensive. The more we can do in the lower jurisdiction courts, the better.

I welcome the family law rules committee and the fact that alternative dispute resolution matters will be strongly encouraged. I further welcome that reporting will be continued. Dr. Carol Coulter has done great work on this and this is an area where one must be able to share with practitioners.

I believe, with the leave of the House, that I am sharing time with Senator Pauline O’Reilly.