Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I wish to share my time with Deputy Gogarty.

We do not often talk about love in this House. In a week dominated by floods, pay talks and the Murphy report, it is good to turn our attention to love for a change. I am pleased we are providing real recognition of the love between adults in a committed relationship. It is enshrined in the Civil Partnership Bill.

One would be forgiven for believing this Bill is unwelcome in some quarters and that its introduction to the House, after a lengthy period of gestation and public debate, is somehow a letdown. There are those in society for whom any formal legal recognition of same-same partnership offends. They perceive civil partnerships as an affront to religious marriage, a challenge to the traditional family unit of man and woman and as representative of unwise legislating. However, there are members of the gay and lesbian community for whom this Bill is a disappointment in terms of what it does not do, that is, establish full civil marriage for all, regardless of sexual orientation.

I agree with Deputy Howlin that the Bill does not go as far as he or I would like, but neither Fine Gael nor Fianna Fáil has made that commitment. Deputy Flanagan spoke eloquently but I am not aware his thoughts are shared by his party or his leader, Deputy Kenny, in the form of a policy commitment. In that regard, politics is the art of the possible and this Bill heads in the right direction to an end point on which I agree with many Deputies.

Before this Bill is labelled as an unnecessary intrusion into traditional marriage or legislative discrimination, let us take a step back and analyse the practical benefits of civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples. Currently, same-sex partners living together in a committed loving relationship have precious little recognition and few rights and obligations. There is little more recognition in law for such arrangements than there is for flatmates living together.

The Civil Partnership Bill will recognise rights, responsibilities, safeguards and obligations for same-sex couples in a loving relationship where there were none before. These are significant, substantial changes which will make a real difference. The Bill amends more than 130 pieces of legislation and stitches the recognition of the unit of civil partnerships into the corpus of our legislation. It creates maintenance rights, so that when one civil partner is financially dependent, the other must provide for him or her. It strengthens our equality legislation and prevents discrimination against civil partners in employment as well as in the provision of goods and services.

When a civil partner presents at a hospital seeking access to see a loved one who has fallen ill, he or she will have the same rights and powers of decision as a husband or wife in such difficult circumstances. When an employer chooses to give special marital leave to newlywed employees, the same arrangements will, by law, have to be given to civil partners. When a pension scheme provides that a benefit accrues to a spouse, the same benefit will extend to a civil partner. This Bill will create legal protection and recognition where there was nothing before.

Civil partnerships will make a significant difference to the law in the area of inheritance. Currently, when a person in a same-sex relationship dies without a will, the non-marital partner has no right of claim on his or her estate. No matter how long they have been together, he or she has no claim on the inheritance of a loved one when he or she dies intestate. Civil partnerships will dramatically improve this situation. Under this Bill, a civil partner will have the same rights to an estate as a widow or widower. They will have an entitlement under law to claim a portion of the estate. This will provide a real and tangible benefit and legal protection and recognition where there was nothing before.

Civil partnerships will transform the treatment of same-sex couples for taxation and social welfare purposes, so that a couple in a civil partnership may share tax credits or a widow's pension can be extended to a civil partner. A civil partnership will cast a legal safety net for couples who break up. It will provide surety and security during the difficult times of an illness of a loved one, when legal protection should be furthest from the mind. It will provide protection for the shared family home and give relief in cases of domestic violence and provide security of tenure in rented accommodation in succession situations. All of this will be in place where there was nothing before.

Many of the rights, obligations and responsibilities spouses enjoy will now be shared by same-sex partners. Some may characterise this Bill as an attack on traditional values or an inadequate solution. Therefore, we must ask if this is a positive development? Do we not become a little more enlightened as a country which has chosen to open the door to recognition of same-sex relationships? This Bill marks substantial, purposeful progress on our equality agenda. It will be of significant practical benefit to gay and lesbian couples across this country

In addition to the rights it confers, however, the creation of civil partnerships sends important messages to those couples seeking to formalise their relationship, that is, recognition and acceptance. If a couple so wishes, their partnership may be brought under the wing of the State, allowing the couple concerned to benefit from its safeguards and grow into the responsibilities it creates. In extending our body of equality legislation like this, we progress our understanding and we mature a little bit as a society.

I have received many letters and telephone calls from those not in favour of civil partnership and who do not wish to grant formal recognition to same-sex civil partnerships. Many people have a religious objection to the recognition of wholly State recognised civil partnerships. Putting aside the lack of religious linkages, I am struck by the distance some of these people put between gay couples and themselves. Are our brothers, sisters, cousins and friends in loving same-sex relationships not deserving of State recognition? Are these people not as much a part of the fabric of our society as heterosexual married couples?

Civil partnership asks for no religious blessing. It does not seek to intrude into that space nor offend its proponents. It is a matter of the State's legal and administrative support of loving same-sex couples. Civil partnerships are not an endpoint but, rather, a significant achievement on the journey toward full marriage equality. I still believe in that end goal and the words I spoke some three years ago, but I see this Bill as progress.

We await the decision of the Supreme Court in the Zappone and Gilligan case to see in what framework the Oireachtas can proceed to legislate for civil marriage, but separate from this there are political challenges to be overcome in getting support from all sectors of society and from all parties in this House for civil marriage irrespective of gender, a position I and my party fully support and have enshrined in our party's policy document, Valuing Families: A Policy on Marriage and Partnership Rights.

As many of those campaigning for gay marriage will acknowledge, this is not a process that happens overnight. Civil partnerships can be a significant political building block in the move toward full gay marriage; we are not engaged in zero sum game. The Civil Partnership Bill is long and complex, but ultimately it boils down something very simple, that is, the State recognising, protecting and cherishing the love between two adults, be they men or women, and this can only be a good thing.

As a Green Party member, I applaud the work my colleagues, in particular Roderic O'Gorman, put into pushing the party's policies forward. As a campaigner I applaud the many organisations, including the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, for the work they have done to advance the cause of equality. As a legislator, I thank the Minister, Deputy Dermot Ahern, and his Department for the hard work which has brought us here. As a father, I am proud of the recognition we are giving to loving relationships, regardless of sexual orientation.

I would like to say I was a florist but Deputy Howlin got there first. All florists, if they were here this evening, would be pleased with the Bill before the House. As a liberal I am proud of the staging post we have reached on the journey towards full equality. I commend the Bill to the House.

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