Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to the Minister of State's comments and not go over the ground covered. In terms of the original Bill being judged to be constitutional, she acknowledged in her contribution that it does not mean that other Bills, with different approaches, would not be found to be constitutional.

I express again, as I mentioned in my opening remarks, my concern about how long this process has taken. I agree with Senator Conway that there is a need to have cross-party consensus on this issue, that this is precisely the type of issue that should not fall down on party political grounds and we should be able to reach a consensus.

I published the Fianna Fáil Bill in February 2012 but did not bring it before the House until the end of May. I wanted to spend time talking to Senators from different parties and to engage with the two Ministers involved. I discussed the Bill with the Minster for Justice and Equality with a view to trying to get consensus before we debated it in the House. It was during the course of those discussions that I became concerned that there was a desire to delay progress. When we debated the Bill in the House in May 2012, the Minister spoke in very similar terms to those used by the Minister of State today. With respect, I understand that she agrees with where we are coming from on this issue and that she has fought the fight herself. Two years ago, two Ministers came to the House and told us that they fully agreed with us in principle and wanted to enact the legislation as soon as possible but that we had to do X, Y and Z and jump through hoops first. I raised concerns then about the public consultation process. I said that we could anticipate what would be said by those who opposed the legislation as their views were well known and, therefore, we should go ahead and draft legislation.

The parliamentary process involves Committee Stage, Report Stage and whatever, and it enables one to engage and redraft things. People can also make presentations to the relevant Oireachtas committees and we can engage with them. I am utterly frustrated by the fact that we are still talking about further consultation and the report has not been published two years later. I heard that the report will be sent to the Minister of State, the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Education and Skills. Can the Minister of State tell me if the relevant Minister intends to the publish the report in order that we can all see it? Will all the submissions made to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Council be published? As far as I understand it, they have not been published. I was interested in reading particular submissions and searched websites but only found some of them. The Department of Education and Skills, when conducting a consultation process, tends to be quite good at making them available and puts all the submissions on its website. That means everyone can see what the other groups have argued and can respond to them, thus leading to a fully informed debate. Unfortunately, that has not happened in this instance. The consultation process closed in the middle of November, yet five months later we have not been able to see the submissions or the report. This is a very straightforward issue. I do not understand why there has been no progress in two years and I am deeply concerned. We are heading into yet another school year and still we have not changed the legislation, which is regrettable.

The Government brought forward legislation that necessitated us sitting here into the early hours of the morning at short notice. We did so to deal with far more complicated financial legislation and there was a will and a sense that work needed to be done. This legislation also needs to be enacted. We need the will to deliver on it. We must ensure we can get on with doing the work and not go on this endless train of consultation followed by more consultation. In the meantime, day in and day out, people go to their places of employment afraid to be open about who they are. In the evening they carry home that pain after doing a day's work and relive conversations they have had where they have lied about the gender of their partners. I have read a blog set up by a member of the INTO's LGBT group. She posted on her blog stories supplied by various female teachers who said that in the staffroom they must say "he" when they talk about their female partner. That is an everyday experience for hard-working teachers in this country. They are doing a great job teaching our children but must endure that upset and torment every day. Two years on, we are no closer to fixing their torment, which is wrong. We need to see a real will to push the Bill forward and finish it.