A new Family Support and Mediation Service is to be set up to co-ordinate and develop existing services and engage in research, the Minister for Social, Community and Family Affairs, Mr Dermot Ahern, said yesterday.
It will strengthen the institutional framework for helping families and advise the Minister on matters relating to family policy.
There will be two arms to the work of the service - support for families under stress and help for couples who have decided to separate so they can resolve issues such as joint parenting and the division of family assets.
"The new service will encourage continuity and stability in family relationships while at the same time dealing with the realities of marriage breakdown," said Mr Ahern.
He said the Government was committed to protecting the family through economic, social and practical measures.
The Family Support and Mediation Service will be set up on a statutory basis. There will be a board of people with expertise in family mediation, law, counselling, research and parenting.
The legislation will be published before the summer recess and it is expected to come before the Dail in the next session.
There is no commitment of additional resources to this service, but a spokeswoman for the Minister said that so far this year £13 million had been allocated for family support and mediation measures.
This consists of £4.8 million for voluntary organisations providing marriage, child and bereavement counselling, £5 million for centres provided under the Family and Community Services Resource Centre Programme, £1 million for pilot family service projects and £1.3 million for the family mediation service.
In addition, £500,000 has been provided for a national survey of children. This project will involve taking some children born this year or the next, and examining their progress at intervals.
As well as supporting and developing the existing services, the new service will provide public information and commission research into marriage and family formation, trends in marital breakdown, the effectiveness of relationship counselling and other family counselling supports.