Labour's Civil Union Bill will give legal recognition to same-sex unions
Issued : Sunday 18 February, 2007
The Dail will this week debate the Second Stage of a Labour Party Private
Members Bill designed to give full legal recognition to same sex unions. The
Bill, the Civil Unions Bill, will be debated in the Dail in Private Members Time
on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Bill will create a status relationship equivalent to marriage for the benefit of people who are of the same sex and who, under the current constitutional understanding of marriage, cannot marry each other. It provides that, in most respects, the rules of law applying to marriage will also apply to civil unions.
The Labour Party Spokesperson on Justice, Deputy Brendan Howlin, said that the Bill represented a very significant step towards the provision of full equality for gay and lesbian citizens and particular for those in same sex relationships.
"In many respects the tabling of this Bill marks a significant watershed in our legislative and social history. This week will mark the first time that the Dail has been given the opportunity to consider legislation providing for the recognition and registration of civil unions entered into between persons of the same sex.
"The Labour Party has a long and proud record of driving the equality agenda in this country. The Labour Party provided the impetus for the legislative changes in 1993 that decriminalised homosexual activities between consenting adults. Myself and Barry Desmond, during our respective terms of office as Minister for Health, introduced legislation that provided for the easy availability of contraceptives. It was Mervyn Taylor who successfully piloted the constitutional amendment that allowed for the introduction of divorce during the term of the Rainbow Government. The Civil Unions Bill is entirely consistent with that equality agenda.
"I believe that in approaching the issue of legal recognition for same sex relationships we should learn from the experience of the divorce referendum. In that case the Dail legislated initially for judicial separation that provided, in effect, for the full dissolution or marriage withholding only the right to remarry. When the system of judicial separation was well established and working well, it then became possible to show a majority of people that providing full divorce, including the right to remarry, was a humane and reasonable way to deal with the problem of marital breakdown.
"One of the reasons the Labour Party has tabled this Bill is because the government has shown no commitment to the introduction of such legislation. The government has been dancing around this issue for some time. There have been sympathetic noises from both the Taoiseach and the Tanaiste, but no indication of a willingness to act. Despite the publication, in November last, of the Report of the Working Group on Domestic Relationships, the government has refused to give any commitment on the introduction of legislation to allow for civil partnerships.
"I believe that the time for consultation is over and the time for decision making is approaching. I am also confident that Irish society has matured and attitudes changed sufficiently to the point where the majority of Irish people would now have no problem with legislation that would provide same-sex couples with same rights and duties that are generally available to married couples.
"I hope that the government will not vote this Bill down at the end of Second Stage and that instead they will allow it to proceed to Committee where Labour will certainly be glad to consider any amendments that will improve the Bill in any way."
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