THE Law Society says the Government should realise there is a major problem with marital breakdown in this country.
Mr Andrew F. Smyth, president of the Law Society, told the Burren Law School in Newtown Castle, Ballyvaughan, Co Clare, that only the Government could deal with the matter adequately. He said it must provide proper facilities to deal with the problem.
The weekend conference was called "The Child in Irish Law - A Brehon and Contemporary Perspective".
According to Mr Smyth, family law is extremely stressful. "Everything should be done to minimise stress on the parties involved, and this can only be done by having proper courts, proper consultation facilities and proper back up welfare administration," he said.
He said judges had to be given sufficient time to deal adequately with cases. The present backlog of cases meant they were constantly under pressure, he said.
Judge Catherine McGuinness, welcoming provisions in the Law Reform Commission's report, said children should be kept out of court in family law matters. Nearly all the judiciary would share her opinion on this" he said.
"It certainly isn't a good idea to say to a young child in the midst of a family breakdown situation. Do you want to live with your father or your mother?"
"That puts far too much responsibility and guilt, as it were, on the child, and courts would prefer to have evidence given by experts such as teachers and parents," Judge McGuinness said.