Children and family bill: Getting close to cherishing all children

IT is probably no exaggeration to say that the Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015, which passed through the Seanad on Monday night, is the most comprehensive overhaul of the law on children and family relationships since the foundation of the State.

Not only does it deal with the issue of marriage breakdown and the often traumatic consequences for children in those circumstances, it also re-imagines and recognises the modern Irish family in all its forms.

The new law will enable civil partners and cohabiting couples who have lived together for three years to jointly apply to adopt. That is something they cannot currently do as a couple – only individually. If a spouse or partner has lived with a parent for three years and parented the child for two years, they will be able to apply for guardianship or custody.