An unmarried father in Cork had his access reduced after he appealed a District Court order, according to a case study quoted in the report.
Judge Harvey Kenny at Cork Circuit Court reduced the father's access to his two children from 16 nights out of 33 to one night in 14, when he made the appeal.
The couple had been living together for 12 years before separating in 2003, and had two children aged eight and four.
The mother and father both worked and lived in Cork and both had almost equal access to their children under an order of the District Court.
However, after a few months, the mother decided to move 60 miles from Cork to a small rural town to be close to her own mother and extended family. She changed the children's schools and did not consult the father.
The father complained that the children were now in the rural town being minded by a Polish au pair until their mother came home from work in the city. He wanted them to live with him in Cork and with their mother at the weekends. "From the day they were born I spent time doing things with them," he said.
The mother said she was seeking a job in the rural town. "I love the ground my children walk on," she said. "I'd be devastated if they left me."
After adjourning for 40 minutes, Judge Kenny said he had given serious consideration to placing the children with their father, but "the mother's willingness to work locally tipped the balance in her favour".
He said the father would have access every second weekend from Saturday morning to Sunday evening in the children's own home, with the mother vacating it on the Saturday night. The father was to have them for a holiday every second year.
The father's barrister complained that his client's access to his children had been reduced and the location of access was also being restricted.
"You can't be moving children around too much," the judge said. The case was to be reviewed in May. However, by then both parties had come to their own arrangement. The father had access to the children every second weekend for two nights and every Wednesday after school. Holidays were divided equally.