Official marital breakdown figures ‘tip of the iceberg’

The state body set up to help prevent marriage breakdown has warned that official figures in the area only represent the "tip of the iceberg".

The Family Support Agency told an Oireachtas committee yesterday that marital breakdown figures published earlier this week are not an accurate measure because hundreds of cases never come before the courts.

The Central Statistics Office figures showed that there were 3,347 divorces last year and 1,258 judicial separations.

However, the FSA said many other separations take place through private legal contracts and it also deals with 1,400 cases of marital breakdown every year through its mediation service, which is designed to avoid the courts process.