I, Sandra Murphy, the duly assigned Judge of the District Court of the above District Court Areas hereby direct by way of formal Practice Direction in relation to all contested Maintenance/Custody/Guardianship/Access applications in this District shall not be listed for hearing until the District Family Court Registrar certifies readiness to proceed. The Registrar shall not so certify until the following are attended to:

1.  Statement of Facts, grounds of opposition and issues agreed to be exchanged in writing between the Parties and filed in Court.
2.  All relevant Reports be exchanged and filed.
3.  Copy Birth Certificate/s to be filed by the Applicant.
4.  List of Witnesses to be filed by all Parties.
5.  Statement of Means with appropriate vouchers to be exchanged and    filed (Maintenance Applications Only)
6.  If applicable, Guardian ad Litem Reports to be served and filed.
7.  Statement of Arrangements in Form 58.49 to be lodged by the Applicant and any response from the Respondent thereto (Access applications only)
8.  Confirmation by all Parties of likely duration of the hearing.
9.  List of Legal Representatives to be filed.
10.  Requirement and availability of interpreter, if applicable, to be confirmed.
11.  Certificate of Readiness signed by the Solicitors for the Parties or in case of lay litigant by the Parties personally, to be filed. The above should be filed 14 clear days prior to the hearing.

2. All pleadings, Orders and Reports referred to above shall be indexed and paginated and filed electronically together with one hard copy which will also be filed. These matters shall be attended to no later than 28 days after the first return date of the relevant proceedings.

This is effective from 2 January 2025

Dated this 2nd day of January 2025
Judge Sandra Murphy
Judge of the District Court assigned to District No.2