Seymour Crawford (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I know. I want to comment on the issue of cohabitation, which has already been mentioned. I welcome the rights that people will now enjoy in that regard. A change was needed in that respect. Individual Deputies are familiar with the cases of couples who lived together for years and had children. When one of them died in an accident, for example, the other one did not have any rights. We have all encountered live issues of that kind. I was contacted by an unmarried lady who had been with her partner for over 40 years, and whose children were reared. When her partner died, she found that she had no rights, to all intents and purposes. Before the Bill proceeds any further, will the Minister agree to include a conscience clause to allow people freedom, without having to go to court? An officer of the court is permitted to withdraw from a case if he or she has a personal interest in the case. With regard to civil partnership, however, there is no room for conscience. No one has the right to refuse to take part in a civil partnership ceremony. That is totally wrong.

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