Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

I listened to the contributions of previous speakers and I wish to refer to the points made by Deputy Shatter regarding what he rightly pointed out should be improvements to this legislation, with particular reference to the rights of children. In statistics supplied by the Central Statistics Office, I came across a startling fact on the increase in the number of cohabiting couples in the ten-year period between 1996 and 2006. In 1996, there were 34,300 cohabiting couples with 23,000 children, while ten years later the corresponding figures were 121,800 and 74,500, respectively. During that same period between 1996 and 2006, the number of cohabiting same-sex couples increased from 150 to 2,090.

The previous speaker commented that society is changing and it surely has changed. For many people in our society, for religious reasons in particular, many such changes have been difficult to accept. In the 29 years since I first was elected to this House, I have been through the entire gamut of changes, ranging from contraception to divorce and to the famous referendum on so-called abortion. It is flippant to state that this caused a great deal of unrest in society because it caused huge problems. I saw Members of this House grappling with their conscience in respect of many of these issues, particularly during my period as Government Chief Whip from 1982. I have always stated that in so far as is humanly possible, when introducing such legislation one should always try to respect the views of all members of society. People genuinely hold views that differ from those I might hold, possibly on religious grounds or whatever, and I try at all times to accept this to be a fact.

Nevertheless, our society has changed greatly on foot of our membership of the European Union with 26 other member states. As for different religions, the population now includes people who adhere to all types of religions and in some cases to none. Members' role as legislators is to make certain that civil rights exist and that they are protected. It is to face reality in order that in circumstances in which someone dies or there is a break-up, society can deal with the division of the spoils in respect of homes, properties, pensions or whatever. Members are now moving to deal with the fact that the number of cohabiting couples, both same-sex and heterosexual, has increased greatly. This legislation constitutes a genuine attempt to deal with this. While I will support the Bill, it is important for the Government to be open to changes. Those who are listening on the Minister's behalf should accept good ideas introduced on Committee Stage and the Government should be open to changes, particularly those that would be beneficial to children in such relationships.

I wish to deal with one aspect of this legislation on which I am sure many Members have received the same correspondence as have I. It pertains to the concept of penalties imposed if someone does not agree to the civil partnership arrangements on genuine grounds of conscience. Section 23 deals with this issue and provides that a registrar who, without reasonable cause, fails or refuses to issue a civil partnership form shall, on summary conviction, be liable to a fine of up to €2,000 or imprisonment of up to six months. While I do not believe this will ever happen, it can cause a great deal of unnecessary upset. I do not believe that someone who has a genuine religious difficulty with his or her conscience should be imprisoned for six months and to do so would be ridiculous in this day and age. Moreover, as I noted, this will never happen. I have heard arguments to the effect that unless such a provision was included, people in hotels would refuse to rent out a room or that people would refuse to serve meals. However, this is a ridiculous argument because at present gay couples stay in hotels and have meals like anyone else and are entitled to so do. I have never come across an instance of anyone being refused. Consequently, putting up such arguments is ridiculous. Although I am certain this issue will never arise, but why create the problem?

I note that in Britain, the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Mackay, introduced an amendment in the House of Lords to deal with this issue there, the wording of which has been forwarded to me. I suggest that the Minister should consider this matter and ascertain whether it is possible to make a provision in cases in which there are genuine conscientious objections, in order that this matter can be dealt with. As the amendment was introduced to the House of Lords by Lord Mackay, a former Lord Chancellor, it is easily obtainable. My point is that it should be considered.

I do not stand over any form of discrimination against anyone on grounds of religion, colour or sex matters.

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