Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Senators for this very constructive debate on this important topic. The eloquence and the power of the contributions from Senators here today speaks for itself. I hope it gets a wide audience through a variety of media. I am very struck by the personal nature of many of the contributions and the care of the language. I recognise, of course, the role that many people have played on the path to equality. I recognise the role of political parties, the Labour Party; Fianna Fáil, especially Máire Geoghegan-Quinn; my own party, Fine Gael; and the contribution of so many individuals, including Members of this House, such as Senators David Norris and Katherine Zappone, who gave such a powerful speech here today. It was very moving, and it is those individual stories from around the country, from families of every shape and size, that will begin to impact on this debate as we move forward, when people understand precisely what we are talking about.

I saw a comment on social media today from J.K. Rowling about why one of her characters was gay. She said it was because they are people, just people. Someone else on social media described this as a magical comment. That is very true and it gets to the heart of what we are speaking about. We are all agreed that people will have to make a momentous decision in May and that decision will reveal much about our attitudes as a society. This is just part of the process. As many Senators said here today, we have a campaign that is about to take place. Information will be given out by the Referendum Commission and by many people who get involved in the debate. That debate will confirm how we view the institution of marriage. It will determine whether we regard marriage as an institution open to all couples who wish to enter it or restricted to the union of a man and a women and it will reveal much about our attitudes to same-sex couples. Will we as a society recognise that they are entitled to equal rights? Our decision in May will determine the answer to that question.

The Convention on the Constitution provided an opportunity for many Members, drawn themselves from different strands of Irish society, to examine the case for opening marriage to same-sex couples. Many Senators attended those discussions. Having heard the views of a range of experts and interest groups and having examined a wide range of submissions, they were convinced that the time had come for constitutional change. I am struck by what Senator Power said about how people changed their minds when they heard personal stories during that Constitutional Convention. I was also struck by the majority opinion expressed in the convention in favour of constitutional change. It reflects broad agreement across Irish society that it is right that the issue of marriage equality should be put to the people for decision.

The overwhelming demand among same-sex couples is to have the choice whether to marry. I was looking at some research in other countries where there was a choice between registered partnerships and marriage. A very large majority among same-sex couples chose marriage. In the Netherlands, for example, 92% of opposite-sex couples have chosen marriage over registered partnership. Similarly, in the US states of Illinois and Nevada, where both options were available, 99% of opposite-sex couples chose marriage over registered partnerships. The strong preference for marriage confirms the symbolic importance of marriage in our society. It suggests that if given the choice, most same-sex couples would also choose marriage. Again, we must ask ourselves, as a number of Senators put it today, what right we as a society have to deny people access to a right which they truly want.

A number of issues were raised today. Quite a number of Senators commented on the conscience clause. Provisions have been proposed with regard to the protection of religious solemnisers when solemnising marriage. I have already referenced that in the general scheme of the marriage Bill. That makes it clear that if that scheme is brought forward as a Bill, no provision of that Bill would compel a religious body to recognise a particular form of marriage ceremony or a registered religious solemniser to solemnise the marriage in accordance with a formal ceremony that is not recognised by that religious body.That is very clear in the Bill and it is important that we know that.

I will not be departing from the existing policy, underlying equality legislation and the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, of not providing for a general conscience clause. I believe such a clause would go against the ethos of our equality legislation and could open the door to discrimination against same-sex couples by service providers. I believe that same-sex couples have a right, like all people under the other equality grounds, not to experience discrimination when accessing goods and services. We could not stand over a situation in which a service provider might arbitrarily refuse to serve a same-sex couple and whereby the couple in question would have no means of redress.

Reference to the redefinition of marriage has been made several times. If the people approve this referendum, they will not be redefining marriage. Marriage is referred to in Article 41.3 as an institution on which the family is founded and which the State pledges to guard with special care. We are not proposing to change that in this referendum. Article 41.3 of the Constitution specifies the circumstances in which a court may grant a dissolution of marriage. We are not proposing to change that in this referendum either. What we are proposing to change is the current restriction on those who can access marriage as a constitutionally revered and protected institution. At present one group of couples who aspire to marriage, those who are opposite-sex couples, may access it. Those who are same-sex couples cannot access marriage at present. If the referendum is passed by decision of the people on 22 May, those same-sex couples who may not access marriage at present will be able to access it. We are not proposing to redefine marriage, change the constitutional protection for the institution of marriage or change the marriages of those of our citizens who are married now and whose marriages are protected by the Constitution. I repeat that we are proposing simply that same-sex couples who are not permitted to access marriage at present will be permitted to access it.

There was a comment about the timing of the referendum. The Government announced its intention on 5 November 2013 to hold a referendum in 2015. The Constitutional Convention held its deliberations in April 2013. The general scheme was published on 16 December 2014 and referred to the Oireachtas joint committee for pre-legislative scrutiny. Therefore, there has been a long process in putting this referendum before the people. We have a commission that will do its work as normal over the coming weeks in informing the people about the details of the referendum. The central tenet of the referendum is about allowing this access for same-sex couples. There is nothing as a result of this referendum to stop a Seamus Heaney of the future writing an equally beautiful poem about precious moments spent with his or her parents, regardless of whether the parents were two men, two women or a man and woman. Seamus Heaney has another famous line:

But then, once in a lifetime

The longed-for tidal wave

Of justice can rise up

And hope and history rhyme.

That is relevant as well. I will address the issues about children on Committee Stage of the Children and Family Relationships Bill, where they appropriately belong.