Minister is to consider regional family courts

A system of regional family courts and special consultation rooms and information facilities for those in family law disputes…

A system of regional family courts and special consultation rooms and information facilities for those in family law disputes will soon be considered by the Minister for Justice.

Mr O'Donoghue told a conference discussing research into domestic violence that these suggestions were included in the sixth report of the Denham Group on the Courts Commission.

"I have decided that the issues and recommendations in the report relating to family law should be addressed by the Courts Service Board when established, so that it might make policy proposals to me as it considers appropriate," he said.

Mr O'Donoghue also said that he would include any proposals which were feasible and warranted in a new Family Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill.

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"Violence in the home is a crime which can often create a negative spiral, which has consequences for parents and children alike, leading to many social problems including homelessness," he said.

The Minister of State in his Department, Ms Mary Wallace, said the National Steering Committee on Violence Against Women, which she chairs, was examining the development of the single contact crisis number. It was also looking at ways to make access to information easier for victims.

"We must provide the victim with the necessary supports to enable her to take back control of her life, and in order that this happens the victim needs to be ready to seek the help required," she said.

Ms Wallace stressed that women threatened by domestic violence should stay with their children in the family home, but this required that a system to support them be in place.

"When looking at the needs of the victim we should not only see it as the call to the local Garda station: we should start to see it as a web of supports," she said.