Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Long may that be the case. We must wake up to the variety of relationships that exist in society. The State must recognise the coming together of loving people to share a space, a family home, for a long period of time. It must meet them not only half-way but, in the fullness of time, must provide fully for such relationships. That is the kernel of this debate. We have a long way to go to recognise the multifaceted forms of Irish family that exist.

As a young parent of a child of two and a half years and one of seven months, I do not know how single parents cope. It is difficult to have one parent exclusively looking after one, two or three children. For the most part, this work is done by women. I do not know how they cope. We must legislate for families in all their shapes and forms.

We hear a great deal of talk about the care and protection given to children. It is a scandal at a time when so many couples want to adopt children, and go to extraordinary lengths to do so, that we cannot find enough people for long-term fostering of children. That is the experience of health boards in regard to foster parents, at a time when parents are looking all over the world for children to adopt.

When civil partnerships are ultimately recognised, which I hope will be the case, this should in no way dilute the importance and primary role of marriage in society. Nobody has suggested that civil partnerships should be on an equal footing with marriage; it is not a legitimate argument. Marriage has a special status and we must continue to highlight its importance and encourage people to marry, as well as to form long-term relationships. That does not undermine the fundamental unfairness that exists for many cohabiting couples. A young man and woman in my constituency could not afford to buy a house. The young woman has a child by another partner. The young man's father gave the couple a plot of land on which to build a house. The young woman has to pay stamp duty, whereas if the couple were married she would not be liable to pay it. That is a classic case of inequity. This family cannot afford to build a house that would be a loving home, which is a matter that needs to be addressed.

On pension provisions, if a gay or heterosexual couple are living together for 20 or 35 years, why can part of the pension not be given to the remaining partner on the death of the other? We must address this unfairness. One of the greatest benefits of marriage is that when one marries a non-Irish citizen, after a period of time, that person is automatically entitled to residency. The same is not true for cohabiting couples and this is another issue we must address.

Colleagues referred to welfare benefits. Another matter of serious concern relates to compassionate leave. If a loving couple who are living together are not married, why does labour law not give any protection to them in a case where one of the parties is sick or needs long-term care?

The issue of next of kin is another obvious example where we need to modify the law, as is the area of property rights. It is horrendous that people can live together for a long period of time yet not be able to provide for the future on the death of one of the parties. That issue has to be addressed in future legislation.

The Minister referred to a fundamental discrimination that exists in regard to religious communities, whereby community members cannot bequeath their estate to the community. The same anomaly exists in the case of elderly brothers and sisters living together, which is common in rural Ireland.