Tom Barry (Cork East, Fine Gael)

We are off again, just as the Moriarty and other tribunals are finishing.

This issue must be recognised as a potential weakness in what is essentially a good Bill. The position is terrible. Obviously, we are all anxious to ensure our people are regarded as equals and that they can continue to live in Ireland, regardless of their sexual orientation. It is welcome that civil partners will receive the same tax treatment that has been availed of by married couples for many years in respect of income tax, stamp duty, capital acquisitions tax, capital gains tax and VAT. This is commendable. However, introducing this element of uncertainty will see older couples, for example, becoming afraid to enter the fair deal scheme or hand over property. This might not just apply to farming; it might also affect small businesses, of which there are approximately 200,000. We are always encouraging such businesses to hire someone extra because if each of them employed just one more person, we would halve the numbers in the dole queues, which would be fabulous. However, we must recognise that small businesses are fragile. If we include something in the Bill that could put one quarter of them in jeopardy by making them split their assets, employers of two, three, four or ten people might stop doing business. As such, those affected will include not just older couples but also the innocent families working for the particular farms or small businesses. They may find themselves in the dole queues through no fault of their own. At a time when every job is precious, we must be careful not to introduce a measure that could create even the slightest doubt about the possibility of businesses failing.

Imagine a young couple who have been going out with each other for a year. They have no commitments to each other and are probably afraid to ask each other to commit. They are seeing how things will go. If the woman arrives at the other person's home believing they are going to dinner but he asks her to sign something in order to opt out, she will look at him and say he must be codding her. That would be the end of their relationship. That would have happened in my day.

The farming community has highlighted a serious matter. A farmer might have large assets while still making progressive losses. Farming was the only industry that suffered negative benchmarking in recent years.

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