Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

This is an area where I do not believe there is a constitutional problem. In respect of a widow or widower with young children who marries, there is no particular reason an arrangement cannot be contained within our adoption legislation which allows the person he or she marries to adopt the children. One then creates a situation whereby the biological parent and the spouse to whom he or she is married retain equal rights in relation to the children. This is not intended to be about a situation where, for example, a married couple - which we know we have difficulties with pending a constitutional referendum - give up their children voluntarily. That is an issue we addressed in the referendum proposal and involves a married parent with all of the constitutional rights conferred by Article 41 apparently trying to divest themselves of rights that are described in the Constitution as inalienable. We have sought to address this.

In these circumstances there are a small number of families in this country afflicted by tragedies. Young men and women are losing their lives in traffic and other accidents and on occasion as a consequence of violence. It is extraordinary that we should have a law that states, for example, that a 29 or 30 year old husband or wife with a child of two years of age whose spouse has died in a car crash and who remarries at some time in the future and whose spouse wishes to acquire parental rights, having established a good relationship with the child-children, is not allowed to acquire the same rights and obligations in law towards the children or to have constitutional recognition as would normally apply had one not suffered a tragedy or would have continued to apply had one's spouse not died.

My problem with the Government's approach to this legislation and the Minister of State's unwillingness to address this particular issue, among all the other issues we have raised, derives from the fact that we have had 20 years of examination of our adoption laws and a plethora of Ministers, many well before the Minister of State's time, promising to update our laws, address the anomalies and unfairness and allow for the variety of family circumstances that occur to be addressed in a manner that is humane and sensible. Yes, this legislation will finally bring into force in this country the Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoption but there is much more we should be doing. This legislation has been essentially awaited for more than a decade. I do not believe there is any remote possibility of our seeing during the remaining lifetime of this Government a reforming adoption Bill addressing the myriad issues we have raised.

On this particular issue, there are a small number of people in this country whose lives would be improved by acceptance of this amendment. There are people in the future whose lives will be improved by it. I wish to put the amendment.

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