Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I thank Deputy Howlin for tabling this motion and acknowledge the multitude of people who have contacted me in recent days to support it. The Labour Party's Civil Unions Bill is the first realistic attempt by any political party in this House to put forward a serious and practical recognition of the manner in which our complex society operates today. It challenges us to become a society that is no longer limited to viewing itself in arrangements that were developed in the distant past under some form of monarchy or confined theocracy under which we existed in former times. Instead, it challenges us to live in a modern republic that provides each citizen with responsibilities and rights in equal measure. The purpose of the Bill is to ensure that those who wish to have the responsibility of a civil union are provided with such a right to have that responsibility granted to them. Fundamentally this issue pertains to those who wish to take responsibility being granted that responsibility and having that right enshrined in law.

In the not too distant past, Ireland acted shamefully towards people in a manner that when considered today, fills us with embarrassment and shame. Members should draw a lesson from this experience for the future. For example, in recent years a child born outside wedlock was ridiculed, outcast and denied equal citizenship. If one considers today what happened then, one can discern both the anomaly and the issue of second-class citizenship and the repugnance of the practice itself. The introduction of the proposed amendment to this House is in itself a repugnant act because it mirrors the confined thinking that existed previously. Recently in official Ireland, this has been a repetitive theme that one has come to expect from Fianna Fáil, a party that opposes any measure of progress in any area of social reform. This motion sets out to correct an anomaly and to bring to an end the second class citizenship encountered at present by couples who are prohibited from forming a civil union.

The response of the Government to the motion is a mixture of the expected and the unexpected. While Members may have hoped, realistically no one expected Fianna Fáil to respond to this issue in any positive or progressive fashion. All Members are aware that Fianna Fáil has been dragged screaming towards any single measure of reform, be it divorce or any other issue pertaining to the creation of a modern Ireland that acts as a republic and that considers citizenship, without regard to the identity of the citizen, from the perspective of equality. The unexpected aspect was the response of the Green Party, particularly considering the support it gave to this Bill earlier this year. It is highly regrettable that it now colludes with the continuation of Fianna Fáil's former attitudes in the adoption of the approach of sticking one's head in the sand as these are social issues that one does not wish to acknowledge.

Last night and this morning on radio, I listened with astonishment to Green Party Members attempting to rationalise and explain its change of position. A few hours ago I listened to the Acting Chairman, Deputy Cuffe, on the "Morning Ireland" radio programme. He spoke in anecdotal or comparative terms about being in a relationship in which the Green Party also sought recognition. While Deputy Cuffe and his Green Party colleagues may be complaining to the public that they are looking for recognition from their new partner, they should be in no doubt that in the public's mind and to its knowledge, the Green Party has consummated that relationship and continues to consummate it every day in this House. It was consummated in respect of Tara, incineration and Ministers' wage increases. Today, it has been consummated once more by undermining the Civil Unions Bill.

My colleague, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, spoke about confidence and ultimately, this issue is a matter of confidence and whether this nation has the confidence to recognise this society's diversity. A positive feature of young people today is that they are not tied by the bonds and conditioning with which many Members grew up. Young people do not understand the problem that exists in this House as they consider this to be a natural development that should happen and should be legislated for, as well as being something on which Members should make progress without debate. More broadly, this issue affects Members' family members, friends and colleagues. Like any other workplace, I am sure it also affects work colleagues and people walking around this House.

It is natural for people in relationships to wish to form unions and in many cases to underpin such unions with legislative measures. The Labour Party Bill recognises the rights, responsibilities and necessities of a civil union and what is required of it. Moreover, it recognises that this issue must be legislated for and a framework must be put together. I call on the Acting Chairman, Deputy Cuffe, and other Members to ensure the Labour Party's Bill will be accepted and that today's amendment will be seen for what it is, namely, a device to throw another shadow over a matter that should be brought out into open daylight and dealt with.

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