THE Bill legalising divorce passed its final stages without a vote and now goes to the Seanad.

The Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, said the Family Law (Divorce) Bill was faithful to the decision of the people in the referendum last November and was fully in line with what they voted for.

Mr Taylor said the last decade had seen major reform in the family law area. "The Divorce Bill in many respects, is the culmination of many years of reform," he added. "It is a major piece of legislation which, I believe, gives our courts all the necessary powers to settle the many complex legal matters arising on foot of marriage breakdown and divorce."

The Fianna Fail spokesman on law reform, Dr Michael Woods, said his party had tried to strengthen the safeguards in the Bill, particularly relating to children, counselling and mediation.

The PD spokeswoman on law reform, Ms Helen Keogh, said the reality of marital breakdown should be dealt with in a caring, professional and effective manner. The family law courts were already overloaded and there were fears about the burden that imminent divorce cases would impose.

Mr Alan Shatter (FG, Dublin South) called for the implementation of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission on family courts. Otherwise, there was a danger in the New Year that the courts would be overwhelmed by divorce cases.

Earlier, Mr Taylor indicated that he might introduce a provision in the Children Bill to ensure that members of the extended family had access to children of divorced parents.

The Minister was responding to an amendment moved by Dr Woods, who said the courts should give a right of access to the grandparents of children of divorced parents. The role of grandparents and the extended family in such circumstances was particularly important, he said.

"We have to recognise that the grandparents, on both sides, can have a vital role, especially when the child feels isolated and bewildered in a situation of marital conflict," said Dr Woods.

Supporting the proposal, Ms Keogh said fears had been expressed that divorce would have an effect on the family unit. There was a fear that grandparents would lose touch with their grandchildren and this was something that they did not want to see happen.

Mr Taylor said that since the constitutional rights of parents were wide-ranging several matters would be required to be considered before such a provision was acceptable. The difficulty was that situations could arise whereby third parties would have the right to interfere in the affairs of a family unit recognised and protected by the Constitution.

The legal issues were being further examined and he was confident that it might be possible to devise provisions which would contain appropriate safeguards. If it was feasible, he would bring a proposal forward in the Children Bill.

Dr Woods withdrew the amendment.