Justice minister Helen McEntee said ministers had approved reforms to ensure that “issues like parental alienation cannot take hold and cannot be part of any decisions that are taken in a private court”.

A report commissioned by the Department of Justice and published over a year ago warned that parental alienation is a “highly controversial” concept and the use of the term in Irish legal settings should be treated with serious caution.

Fine Gael TD Bernard Durkan yesterday told the Dáil that the “continued use of the parental alienation clause in family law… is causing continued and ever-increasing hardship to mothers, some fathers, and particularly to children, who are the victims in this entire matter”.

Mr Durkan, who has been campaigning on the issue for some time, asked the minister to take “urgent action… to bring this to a head”.

In response, Mrs McEntee said: “I thank the deputy for continually raising this issue.

“The only way and the most important way in which the welfare of a child can be heard in family proceedings is through the various welfare reports and voice of the child reports.

“I have undertaken a review of those reports. I am pleased to say that review has come to Cabinet. There are 20 recommendations, separated between welfare reports and voice of the child reports.

“These recommendations will ensure, when a report is commissioned, we have a panel of assessors looking at the reason for the report and in particular that there are correct qualifications for those who are carrying out these reports. There will also be guidelines set in place as to where, when and how they are used.

“Specifically looking at the voice of the child, there will be a children’s court function put in place to make sure children’s voices are taken into consideration but also that they are spoken to and engaged with and they understand what is happening, so that at every stage the welfare of the child is put at the very centre and issues like parental alienation cannot take hold and cannot be part of any decisions that are taken in a private court.”