Parental alienation in family law
Deputy Durkan called for the concept of parental alienation to be abolished and expert evidence in family cases to be tightly regulated. The Minister said reforms were under way, including shorter-term changes and longer-term routes for court assessors.
I again raise the continued and questionable use of the concept of family or parental alienation in family law, and the extent to which it militates against the interests of mothers, some fathers and, in many cases, children. The Minister has been very helpful in outlining her proposals for the future in that respect. I respectfully suggest that the pseudo-concept of parental alienation be abolished from family law cases, that the suitability of professionals offering expert evidence be restricted to those who are professionally qualified and that all reports emanating from them under sections 47 and 32, etc., should be challengeable in court and questionable in all instances. I also suggest that Tusla would continue to have an influence in the welfare of children in such cases. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise the matter.
Comment on this
I thank the Deputy. Only this morning, I updated the family justice development forum on a number of actions that have been undertaken to improve the family justice system not just for parents but also for children. One of those actions related to a report I received just this week on court assessors. It looks at ensuring we have a number of actions in place in the short, medium and long terms. In the long term, it is to ensure there are correct diplomas and routes through which people must go to become a court assessor. In the short term, it is to ensure we have a panel overseen by a board so that where complaints are made, people have somewhere to go and that there is oversight of those who are conducting these types of reports. There are many other actions to ensure we support families so that people do not have to go through the court process and, above all, that the voice of the child is heard in all of this. I would be happy to update the Deputy further on this particular report.