Cynthia Ní Mhurchú

Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, a practising barrister who is running as a Fianna Fáil candidate for the Ireland South constituency in the European Parliament, has said the Family Courts Bill lacks “joined-up thinking”.

The Bar of Ireland and the Family Lawyers’ Association (FLA) have previously warned the proposals risk creating a “two-tier family justice system”.

Ms Ní Mhurchú said: “I have clients every week who are going through marital and relationship breakdown, sometimes losing their homes, and going through bitter custody battles. They deserve to have those cases heard in a considered and sensitive manner.

“The proposals to move those cases to the District court will not work because the District Court system is already under pressure, and an influx of divorce, and other family law cases will increase its workload by 11 per cent, adding an unsustainable workload to our district court system.”

She added: “There is a lack of joined-up thinking here if the suggestion is that the District Court will deal mainly with family cases that have settled and simply need to be ruled.

“A lot of work goes on in the background to reach settlements and to ensure the court fulfils both it’s constitutional and legislative responsibilities and obligations to ensure ‘proper provision’ is made for all concerned.

“We cannot have a system wherein families are subjected to a ‘shotgun’ divorce, separation or dissolution of cohabitation.”