The Children and Family Relationships Bill reflects the changing story of the Irish family. With almost one third of Irish families not belonging to the traditional family unit, this legislation provides a protective framework for children in diverse families. And crucially, it will provide for automatic guardianship of children for unmarried fathers in specified circumstances.
This Bill potentially affects a staggering number of Irish citizens. According to the 2011 census, single mothers and their children account for 186,284 of our citizens. Lone fathers with children amount to 29,031 people; while cohabiting couples with children amount to 60,269 people. That’s more than 275,000 adults and children who fall outside the traditional family unit.
Ultimately, this is about ensuring the rights of children to know who their parents are, to have a relationship with them and to be supported by them. The legislation to be published tomorrow will make new provisions for parentage, guardianship, custody and access across a range of family situations that are not addressed adequately in current law.
This Bill is child-centred. It makes the best interests of the child the paramount consideration in proceedings on guardianship, custody and access. By benefitting the child, the legislation will benefit the child’s family. And I believe the benefits to wider society will follow.
The Children and Family Relationships Bill will redress an imbalance relating to the guardianship rights of unmarried fathers. Many fathers feel they have not been afforded adequate protection by the law when a relationship breaks down and this issue was to the fore when the Justice Committee took the view of various stakeholders in the pre-legislative stage of this Bill. The legislation to be published this week will make it more straightforward for unmarried fathers to get guardianship rights to their children.
Under the provisions of this Bill, a father who has lived with the child’s mother for 12 consecutive months, including at least three months with the mother and the child following the child’s birth, will automatically become a guardian.
Up to now the only ways in which an unmarried father could get guardianship was via a joint statutory declaration with the mother or by making an application to the court and the court deciding to make him a guardian having regard to the welfare of the child. And without guardianship status fathers have far less of a say over the custody of their children.
Many unmarried fathers incorrectly assume that they have guardianship rights to their child or children and they are often dissuaded from pursuing guardianship rights by the costly legal process involved. Despite this, nearly 3,000 guardianship applications were before the courts in 2013. By enabling a wide range of unmarried fathers who are living with the mother and their child to become guardians of their child automatically, the majority of these cases will not be necessary under the new legislation.
This legislation is being enacted in recognition of the child’s right to a relationship with both of its parents, a principle which is spelt out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which states that “as far as possible” a child has “the right to know and be cared to for by his or her parents”.
The Children and Family Relationships Bill will actively encourage the involvement of both parents in situations where the parents are estranged and will put in place a series of provisions to support joint parenting after relationship breakdown. These provisions are intended to ensure that both parents can have meaningful relationships with their child even in a context of relationship breakdown. These include measures to promote compliance with court orders on custody and access.
The powers of courts will be enhanced to support joint parenting after breakups and the child’s views may be ascertained in court proceedings on guardianship, custody and access. The Bill defines, for the first time, factors that a court can take into account in defining a child’s best interests, such as meaningful relationships, psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being as well as issues such as family violence.
The legislation will also make it more straightforward and less legally onerous for grandparents to have access to their grandchildren in situations where they are estranged from the parents of the children. Again, this is about recognising what is in the best interests of the child.
While no one can legislate for the ups and downs of family life, we can provide a framework which will make it more likely for children in this country to have a fulfilling relationship with and the support of both their parents. This can only be good for those concerned and for society as a whole.
David Stanton is Fine Gael TD for Cork East and the Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality