Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

Ireland has changed dramatically in the past ten years. We have become a very confident nation. When one went for a job before one was asked "who do you know?" The reason one was there was that one knew someone else. Now the questions are "what do you know?" and "what can you do?" People in this country can stand up and tell us what they can do, what they know and how they can do it better. That attitude has taken us all over the world, has contributed to every society and has brought us back. We now have the type of confidence that will allow us to introduce a Bill like this one, brought before the House by Deputy Howlin. It is about being confident about who one is, what one is and how one wants to live one's life. That confidence does not mean impinging on someone else's life and it does not mean interfering where interference is not necessary. It is a confidence that comes from people who are content with themselves. That is what this Bill is about.

What we have seen from the Government benches today and last night has been all about that lack of confidence that we used to have. It is about the terrifying spectre of someone taking something from us, but that is not today's Ireland. Today's Ireland is confident. It allows others to get on with their lives in whatever way they wish. The last census statistics showed us that 2,000 gay couples were cohabiting in this country. As a nation, we are saying that they cannot enjoy the same rights in law that we have.

I listened to an interview a few months ago about a famous woman who was living happily for 16 years with her partner. It never entered her head to marry as she did not feel the need for it, until he got sick. It suddenly occurred to her that she had no rights. She had no rights to decide what treatment he would get, nor any rights to be present while he was being treated. As soon as he recovered they got married because she needed that type of security in law. That is what we are offering to people.

I suggest that the Green Party Deputies be extremely careful about the speeches they have heard today. If the common thread of the Government speeches is that this Bill is unconstitutional, are they suggesting a referendum? That is the only way out of it. If they truly believe that this is unconstitutional, they must offer a referendum, and we know where that will take us. The same people spoke in the same tones about divorce and about the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The same uncertain voices have said "what we have, we hold". That is not the Ireland in which the majority of the people wish to live.

The Labour Party has been to the fore in pushing the equality agenda.

It has not quite made it yet and this constitutes one of the barriers that must be overcome. Other barriers still exist and while the Labour Party introduced equal pay for women, this has not yet been completely achieved. The Labour Party will continue to push such barriers aside and ensure that contemporary Ireland is a society in which all can feel comfortable and in which one is no longer obliged to go around in the shadows.

However that was the tenor of the speeches Members heard today. If the Government truly believes this Bill is unconstitutional, what is its solution? Its solution should worry us all. I am aware of some within Fianna Fáil who would have no problem with such legislation and Deputy Charlie O'Connor surprised Members this morning in this regard. Others, from whom Members expected better and who one would imagine to be so widely read, intelligent and well-travelled that they would consider this to be nothing, were deeply opposed. Such Members are deeply opposed because of the insecurities they feel within themselves. Members should not permit such insecurity to hold us all back. As legislators, Members have an obligation to minorities and the gay community is one such minority. Members have the opportunity to ensure the progression of this Bill to Committee Stage, where any flaws it contains can be teased out. However, Members should not wait any longer or rehearse the same old arguments.

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