Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)

I welcome the Bill. Fine Gael's record on this issue has been clear and unambiguous. Fine Gael, in 2004, was the first party in the State to publish a comprehensive policy in this area and since then both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have backed our proposals and said they would implement them. Despite this, however, same sex couples have been denied their basic rights and no legislation has been forthcoming. Fine Gael's proposals, reiterated in our election manifesto, would give registered couples rights in a range of areas as follows. A surviving partner would be entitled to the estate when his or her partner dies intestate and if the deceased partner had children this entitlement would be reduced to two thirds. Should a partner die leaving a will the surviving partner would be entitled to at least half of the estate, regardless of what the will states and no inheritance tax would be payable. Civil partnership would bestow next of kin status upon a registered partner. A surviving partner would be entitled to benefit from pension provisions that were made. Both partners would have the right to share a last name, should they wish, and the right to residency in Ireland would automatically be conferred on the foreign registered partner of an Irish citizen. The equivalent of the married tax free allowance and married mortgage allowance would be conferred on registered couples. They would be considered adult dependents and would be assessed according to joint income. Registered partners would be entitled to compassionate leave from employers in the event of serious illness or the death of a partner, along the lines of that granted to married couples. The Family Home Protection Act would be widened to include registered couples to avoid the possibility of the secret sale of the home of a registered couple that may be in the name of only one member of the couple.

In Government Fine Gael would grant equal status to cohabiting couples of the same and the opposite sex through the implementation of its civil partnership policy. To prove our commitment we included recognition of civil unions for tax purposes in our joint economic plan with the Labour Party in the last general election. Same sex couples and all unmarried couples have been discriminated against for too long and Fine Gael has been crystal clear in its commitment to the family in all its modern forms. Our civil partnership policy is a sign of how we will turn that commitment into positive action.

Our party was disappointed, as undoubtedly was the Labour Party, at the decision of Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats in February to defer the creation of civil unions. This issue arose after the Government tabled an amendment to an Opposition Bill aiming to bring about civil unions. Civil unions and domestic partnerships are recognised in many countries including, as of 1 November 2006, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Andorra, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxemburg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Uruguay. Surely we can learn from our UK counterparts if the Government has the political will to enact serious legislation in this area.

Recognition for civil unions is also being debated in many countries including Australia, Austria, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Estonia, Ecuador, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Poland, Romania and Taiwan. In 2007 Oregon and Washington introduced domestic partnerships and New Hampshire has legalised civil unions. Oregon and New Hampshire's laws will come into effect on 1 January 2008.

I am disappointed at the Government's continued inaction on this issue and it seems that its rhetoric on equality and support for civil unions is not short of lip service. The Government was handed an opportunity to make good on its promise to introduce civil unions. It failed in the past so let us hope it takes note of this debate and shows leadership on this issue, rather than provide continuous spin and rhetoric with no accompanying action.

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