Kenny calls for family court referendum

Proposals for a constitutional amendment to allow for the establishment of an "entirely distinct and separate" system of family courts were launched at the Young Fine Gael national conference by party leader Enda Kenny.

Mr Kenny has also publicly warned that the party's relationship with the SDLP could change fundamentally if it makes an alliance with Fianna Fáil.

Mr Kenny said family law cases were currently dealt with in the District, Circuit and High Courts. A dedicated family court system "would operate separately to the current court systems and would offer those involved in family disputes a lower cost, less complex avenue to resolve their legal problems".

He said the "family court system is failing, with talk of reform and promises for change having gone on far too long with nothing achieved. Our system of family court is fragmented, developing piecemeal over many years in an unplanned, haphazard way. A lack of judicial training and a lack of transparency in findings results in inconsistent decisions being delivered".

It was 11 years years since the Law Reform Commission published a detailed report calling for reform in this area, he said, and former family law reporter Carol Coulter had issued a detailed report in the last month.

But, he said, the Fine Gael proposal went further. Mr Kenny said the Dáil committee dealing with children's rights had done a great deal of work and a referendum was expected next year.

"What we propose is to underpin that structure with a distinct, separate and entirely focused court system, where you'd have mediation in court, family assessment, trained judicial personnel to bring that to the level of professionalism and expertise that you would expect."

He called on the Government to put the idea to a referendum. "It would be absolutely correct in my view to have it on the same day as the other children's referendum. But if that's not the case then acceptance of the principle by Government would be very welcome."

Commenting on the possibility of an alliance between Fianna Fáil and the SDLP, he said he "would not like to see a situation where the fundamental respect that this party has had for members of the SDLP, for what they stand for, for their principles and the way they go about their business, being damaged or altered or changed by that party's decision to associate itself in full or in part with the Fianna Fáil party".

Fianna Fáil intends to organise in the North and has set up a group, chaired by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, to examine the issue and talk to parties in the North, including the SDLP. Mr Kenny said it was a matter for the SDLP but he would meet its leader Mark Durkan next week to discuss the matter.