Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 19 September 2018

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality

General Scheme of the Thirty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Role of Women) Bill: Discussion

9:00 am

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If I come back, I will elaborate. This is interesting but I am not being facetious in saying that, having listened to the debate, I am now more convinced of the need for a replacement. The options presented by Dr. Laura Cahillane are very clear. We either take out the provision and include one that is symbolic or we put something in that gives more economic and social rights. I am cognisant that the commission is a statutory body and separate from the others but the support for the starting point of the Constitution being a document for the public good is such that the huge area of work involved deserves a mention. I will not waffle on about my opinion on the matter because we will definitely not resolve the issue here. I would like the opinion of the panel on pointing a way forward, which is something we could do. Do the delegates believe that, in our report, we could recommend, for example, the establishment of a citizens’ assembly, the sanctioning of finances for it and the setting of a timescale sufficient to enable the process to tie in with the local and European elections? The decisions on funding would be left to the Oireachtas. I am curious about this. Could the witnesses add anything on this?

I am interested in Dr. Laura Cahillane's point of view. She referred, on the one hand, to how it might be better to put the wording into Article 45 and referred, on the other, to how it might not. Have the witnesses a view regarding the family? The Minister suggested an argument I had not heard, namely, that if we included "family life" it would only cover married family life, be it the married family life of same-sex couples or otherwise. One would have to be married, however, to enjoy the benefits. There could be a problem with the idea of "family life" in that context. How would the witnesses get around that? This matter seems to be key. Those were my two questions. I hope I will be able to come back to them.

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