According to Enda Kenny, the Children and Family Relationships Bill will be “the most important change in family legislation since the foundation of the State”. So what is all the fuss about and what do you need to know? Over the course of the coming weeks, I intend to go through in more detail the main provisions and how they change our existing laws. However for today I will give a very brief overview of the main parts of this bill.

The bill comprises of 12 Parts, over 100 pages and 170 Sections:-

PART 1 – Deals with general matters such as commencement dates, definitions etc.

 

PART 2 – Parentage in Cases of Donor Assisted Human Reproduction.

The bill proposes that parents of a donor conceived child will be the birth mother and her husband, civil partner or cohabiting parent where he/she has consented to become a parent and where the donor has consented to be a donor and not a parent. Clear consents from all parties (birth mother, donor and second parent) must be obtained and a requirement that the treatment take place in a clinical setting.

 

PART 3 – Donor Assisted Human Reproduction facilities. 

The Bill proposes a set of obligations that a facility will be required to observe and the categories of information required for, and available from, the national donor-conceived person register.

 

PART 4 – Guardianship.

The Bill extends the categories of non-marital fathers who will automatically be guardians to include fathers who reside with the child’s mother for 12 consecutive months (including at least 3 months after the child’s birth). Applications can still be made to the court for as currently exists. Provision is also made for a person other than the child’s father to become a guardian, if married to or in a civil partnership with the child’s parent or if he/she has cohabited with the child’s parent for over 3 years and has shared responsibility for the child’s day to day care for more than 2 years. Furthermore, a person can also apply if he/she has been responsible for the child for over a year and no parent or guardian is willing to assume responsibilities of guardianship. Further provisions are made for a court to appoint a temporary guardian in limited circumstances and an application for custody can also be made by a child’s relative, parents spouse/civil partner or parents cohabiting partner if he/she has lived with the parent for over 3 years. However, restrictions and certain criteria apply.

 

PART 5 – Maintenance.

Cohabiting partner may have a maintenance responsibility for his/her cohabitants child in certain circumstances.

 

PART 6 – Parentage and DNA testing.

The bill provides for DNA testing on mouth swabs, saliva samples or blood samples to be used.

PART 7 – Maintenance lump sums.

Lump sum orders can be made against a cohabitant in certain circumstances.

PART 8 – Adoption.

The bill proposes set of provisions to enable civil partners and cohabiting couples who have cohabited together for 3 years to be eligible to adopt jointly on the same basis as married couples.

PART 9 – Maintenance liabilities for civil partners.

PARTS 10, 11, 12 – Varies existing legislation to facilitate provisions above.

The legislation is certainly a welcome development to the existing family law legislation and is a step towards recognising that family life in Ireland is changing constantly.
Does it go far enough? Personally I do not accept that fathers should still be placed on the back foot in terms of their rights to guardianship and access. I do not accept that because a father has not lived with the mother of his child for at least 12 months then he is not entitled to automatic guardianship. I fail to see how this can be in the best interests of the child. How can you determine whether someone is a good father based on the amount of time they have lived with the child’s mother? It simply does not make any sense to me. What would the reaction be if we forced mothers to comply with certain conditions in order to be eligible to have guardianship rights to their children? Think about it!

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact me at laura@thefastnetgroup.com or (01) 679 7930.

 

Laura Gillen

Brophy Solicitors