845. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration he will introduce statutory minimum qualifications and regulatory oversight for all court appointed assessors, including those offering opinions on parental alienation, in light of concerns raised in Dáil Éireann regarding unqualified and unregistered experts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30308/26]
Topics / Family Law Cases
A subject heading for parliamentary questionsFamily Law Cases
53 questions from 21 TDs, between 19 March 2025 and 7 October 2026.
53
questions
52 written, 1 oral
21
TDs have asked
9
parties and groups
Independents counted together
3
departments asked
Questions per month
The record holds no questions for August, when the Dáil does not sit.
Jan 2025Oct 2026
Show as a table
| Month | Questions |
|---|---|
| January 2025 | 0 |
| February 2025 | 0 |
| March 2025 | 6 |
| April 2025 | 1 |
| May 2025 | 2 |
| June 2025 | 2 |
| July 2025 | 1 |
| August 2025 | 0 |
| September 2025 | 1 |
| October 2025 | 7 |
| November 2025 | 1 |
| December 2025 | 3 |
| January 2026 | 0 |
| February 2026 | 1 |
| March 2026 | 1 |
| April 2026 | 5 |
| May 2026 | 14 |
| June 2026 | 5 |
| July 2026 | 0 |
| August 2026 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 2 |
| October 2026 | 1 |
Who asks, by party
The party each TD belonged to on the day, in alphabetical order. Parties differ a lot in size, and members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them, so this shows who raised it, not how much a party cares about it.
The TDs who asked most
Members of the Government answer questions rather than ask them. Each question counts once.
-
14
-
7
-
5
-
3
-
3
-
3
-
2
-
2
Asked of
Debated under the same heading
Debates whose official heading is exactly these words.
The questions
869. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he has given consideration to much-needed reform of the family court system, and the child-centred decisions; and his views on specific policy proposals (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30886/26]
1997. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Health the legal measures or other options that are in place in a situation where a family member believes another family member is exercising coercive control over a parent, where that family member has moved in with that parent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [19899/26]
804. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the way he will ensure that children’s voices are given precedence when determining child access arrangements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9422/26]
493. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the timeframe for implementation of the recommendations of the report into the review of the operation of the in camera rule in family law proceedings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [71178/25]
494. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration his views on transparency orders under the family court reporting pilot, as introduced in England and Wales; if he has given consideration to introducing these in Ireland, notwithstanding that they were not included as a recommendation in the report into the review of the operation of the in camera rule in family law proceedings; and…
635. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his attention has been drawn to concerns in relation to family court proceedings and the accessibility of Section 32 reports and related assessments (details supplied); if he will address these concerns to minimise delays in these proceedings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [69585/25]
417. Deputy Noel McCarthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the measures his Department is taking with regard to the possible reform of the family court system; if his Department is considering measures to greatly reduce the time it takes for initial child contact cases to be taken, similar to reforms that have been implemented in other EU jurisdictions such as Denmark; if the establishment o…
5. Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if there has been progress in removing the in camera rule in the family courts, subject to protection of identity, in order that media reports can be carried out in the interests of transparency; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54521/25]
277. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the steps that have been taken to address the lack of a legal definition of parental alienation which has caused confusion and inconsistencies in terms of cases before family courts, given reports that different department and bodies’ deal with it differently; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54510/25]
420. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the timeframe for when he expects to receive guidelines from the Judicial Committee established in July 2024, further to a review of the role of expert reports in the family law process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53388/25]
421. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the status of the six recommendations to address the issues linked to actions within the Family Justice Strategy, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53389/25]
422. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the status of recommendations with the Parental Alienation Research Report and Policy Paper, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53390/25]
423. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if he will report on the work of the Family Justice Strategy 2022 - 2025, a Family Justice Training Working Group; the status of the review into existing training needs for those working within family justice; the timeframe in which he intends effective and relevant training programmes will be developed; and if he will make a statement…
140. Deputy Tom Brabazon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the plans to introduce psychological or psychiatric assessments for parents seeking to assert custody rights over minor children. [52463/25]
1654. Deputy Ann Graves asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration if his Department has completed its report into the practise of carrying out family court proceedings in camera; and his plans to reforms this practise and the timeframe. [46365/25]
51. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the steps taken to address and suspend the use of unqualified, unregistered self-appointed experts on ‘parental alienation’, and the construct of parental alienation itself in family law cases, until the report of the review of experts into its role in the family law process is completed; and if he will make a statement on the mat…
423. Deputy Michael Cahill asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the measures being put in place to deal with an urgent matter (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31539/25]
235. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration the number of family law and childcare cases heard in camera in each of the past five years, by court level - district, circuit or high court, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30961/25]
96. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Justice if his attention has been drawn to Denmark's formal recognition of parental alienation; if any lessons can be learned from their approach in this jurisdiction; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26127/25]
674. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Justice the number of practitioners on the District Court Family Law panel in each county in each of the past five years, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25478/25]
1544. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Justice if he will provide an update on the provision of promised reforms in relation to parental alienation as promised by the Minister in 2024, and based from a Department report in 2023 which cited the concept of parental alienation as highly controversial; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19015/25]
188. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Justice whether consideration has been given to recognising a history of childhood abuse as a mitigating factor in judicial proceedings where a survivor retaliates against their abuser; and the reforms being considered to prevent prolonged adjournments of court cases which can cause significant distress to those with mental health challenges. [12944/25]
189. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman asked the Minister for Justice for an update on the progress of the family justice strategy; when legislation will come before the Oireachtas; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12467/25]
1142. Deputy Gary Gannon asked the Minister for Justice if he is aware of cases where the in-camera rule has been applied in a manner that restricts parents from raising legitimate concerns about the welfare of their children in high-conflict custody disputes; and the measures his Department is considering to ensure the rule is not misused in ways that reduce transparency and access to justice. [11599/25]