Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 13 January 2026
1674. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration further to Parliamentary Question No. 653 of 9 December 2025, if the implementation plan due in January 2026 will specifically include a statutory four-week mandate for initial child contact assessments; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [75033/25]
View answerMy Department is fully committed to reforming the family justice system in Ireland through implementation of the Family Justice Strategy 2022-2025. This is an ambitious programme of reform which sets out a vision for a system refocused on the needs and rights of children, who are central to many family justice matters.
Many families make their own arrangements in relation to access or contact. Where support is needed, this can be accessed initially via the range of universal and targeted parenting supports provided by the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, the Child and Family Agency Tusla, and the network of family resource centres and other voluntary and community family support services which it funds.
Where additional support is required, I am committed to facilitating the increased use of mediation, in line with the principles of the Family Courts Act 2024. Mediation offers people the opportunity to resolve their disputes without the adversarial strain of the courtroom. Goal 4 of the Family Justice Strategy aims to promote more co-operative, less adversarial ways for individuals, children and families to try to resolve disputes. This goal contains a number of actions relating to the role of mediation in family justice.
The Family Courts Act 2024 is a key component of my Department's Family Justice Strategy and contains a number of provisions designed to make the family court process more user-friendly and less costly. Commencing the Family Courts Act 2024 is a priority for Government and an implementation team has been established within my Department. As committed to in the Programme for Government, I intend to publish an implementation plan for a new Family Court System early this year. The implementation plan will be based on the provisions of the Act, which does not include a statutory period for child contact assessments.
The Act includes a set of guiding principles for the family court system which all parties to proceedings will be required to have regard to. The principles include, but are not limited to:
• In family proceedings in which the welfare of a child is involved or likely to be affected, ensuring that the best interests of the child are a primary consideration; the child is informed in an age-appropriate manner; the views of the child are ascertained and taken into account; and, there is no unreasonable delay in determining the proceedings.
• Encouraging and facilitating the use of alternative dispute resolution methods, such as mediation, to resolve family law disputes without recourse to the courts, in so far as is possible and appropriate.
• Operating in an efficient manner which is likely to minimise the cost of the proceedings and encouraging active case management by the courts.
