Ms Sandra Irwin-Gowran:

There has been a good deal of discussion of adoption, including by gay and lesbian couples. I reiterate a point made in my opening comments, namely, that adoption is ultimately about the right of a child to a family; it is not about the right of adults to adopt. When speaking about adoption by lesbian and gay couples, we are, for the most part, speaking about adoption of a child they are already parenting. To my mind and that of any fair minded individual, in that case it is in the child's best interests. Adoption does not always meet the needs of children who are being parented by lesbian or gay couples. This legislation is so welcome and needed because it provides for broader recognition of parentage, guardianship and so on.

For decades, researchers have been comparing the development of children parented by lesbian and gay couples with that of children parented by heterosexual parents. All of the leading international child experts, including from the United States and the United Kingdom, on child development conclusively agree that what affects whether one has a healthy and well adjusted child is the quality of the relationship between the child and his or her parents, the quality of the relationship of the parents and the economic and social support afforded to that family. To my mind, that is what the Bill is seeking to do. We are not talking about it providing the opportunity to create families, rather we are talking about it taking cognisance of the complexity of family life in modern Irish society.