Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy Clare Daly. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak on this new legislation, the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014. This is an important debate as many complex issues are covered in the Bill. We must get this right, respect the rights of the person and ensure there is no question of exploitation. We must be vigilant when it comes to trafficking and I will deal with that issue later. Our minds must be clear and open and prejudice must be tackled in order that all Irish and European Union citizens are treated equally. There is no point talking about an inclusive society or building a new Ireland that respects all cultures and traditions if we do not have quality, well-planned legislation to defend the rights of citizens. This Bill proposes many major changes to the Civil Registration Act 2004. Many relevant issues were covered earlier by my colleagues.

The Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2014 will introduce a number of changes to the Civil Registration Act 2004.

The Bill specifically focuses on marriage and civil partnerships of convenience, and this must be scrutinised very carefully; compulsory registration of both parents on a birth certificate, which I welcome; the validation of embassy marriages and civil partnerships, which is an important aspect of the legislation; registration of certain Irish deaths abroad; and information sharing. These are the key elements of the legislation.

People may enter a marriage or civil partnership for a variety of reasons. Love is one reason, as we all know very well. Marriages and civil partnerships entered into for material gain or tax breaks are as equally valid in the eyes of the law as those entered into for love or a shared future. Many people do not know this.

The right to marry is recognised as a fundamental human right by Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 9 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Marriage is also afforded special protection in the Constitution in Article 41.3.1° which states, "The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage, on which the Family is founded, and to protect it against attack".

The Law Reform Commission's, LRC, recommendations were informed by two major principles, that the rights and best interest of the child be the primary consideration and that there should be equality between all parents who should be treated equally in respect of their relationship with their children regardless of gender or marital status. These recommendations are top class. The LRC cites the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as ratified. Article 7.1 of the Convention states, "The child shall be registered immediately after birth and shall have the right from birth to a name, the right to acquire a nationality and, as far as possible, the right to know and be cared for by his or her parents". This is regularly breached in the broader debate. One often hears the phrase "non-national". Nobody on the planet is a non-national. People who come to Ireland might be foreign nationals, but we regularly hear the phrase "non-national" used in the Dáil and on media programmes. Everybody comes from somewhere, everybody has roots somewhere and everybody has a nationality. If people want to change their nationality or amend their situation, this is their constitutional right. People should remind themselves of Article 7.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The LRC also recommended compulsory joint registration of births and set out the necessary changes to procedures to support this move. This is an important part of the debate.

A number of my colleagues have raised the issue of civil partnerships, which were introduced in 2011 and take place between two members of the same sex. Civil partnership status is not protected in an equivalent way to marriage and we must face up to this. I was interested to hear some of the comments of my colleague, Deputy Michael McNamara, on same-sex marriage. As far as I am concerned, one either believes in equality or one does not. If people of the same sex want to get married, they should be entitled to do so. I disagree with Deputy McNamara's view that the referendum will be very divisive. If people have a problem with equality, that is their problem. Most Irish people have a very sensible, balanced and measured outlook on life. All of us have friends, family members and neighbours who are gay and it is not a major issue; they are our friends, neighbours and cousins - end of story. Do they have a right to marry? The answer is, "Absolutely, yes". If people have prejudice and attitudes, that is their problem. We are trying to build a new democratic inclusive Ireland based on equality and if people have problems with this broader debate, it is their problem. We should not back off or hide from them, or say it will upset some section of society. One either believes in equality or one does not. I do not believe it will be a very divisive campaign.

I agree with Deputy McNamara in that I would also love if we could just get on with it and legislate and stop having all of these referendums. People are elected and if the electorate does not like the decisions we make, it should boot us out at the next election. We should be able to legislate rather than having all of these referendums every second week. We should also legislate on the Y case and all of the other social issue cases. We have been elected to come in here and legislate. If Members have the bottle, they should get on with it and if they do not, they should not be involved in politics. People seem to run away from certain issues.

People also seem to want to back off from race equality issues. This touches on marriages of convenience and immigration. Racism and any type of sectarianism should be a no-no. There should be no debate about it. Racism should not be tolerated and nor should inequality. People who have problems with immigration should wake up and get real. Their own children, neighbours and cousins are running around New York or Australia as I speak. This is part of life and immigration is part of modern life. It is important to say this. Anyone who has problems with "these people" coming into our country should get a life and get real. There should be no question of tolerating any racism.

Marriages of convenience are sometimes referred to as sham marriages and generally take place so one partner can gain residency in a country. Governments should stay out of people's bedrooms and people's personal lives. People may not be married but may be in a long-term relationship and have children. It is not the business of the Department of Justice and Equality or of politicians. If people living in a country want to become a resident, they should not have to get involved in marriages or be forced down this road.

I welcome the provisions in the legislation on information. It is very important to have quality information, particularly when dealing with children and families.

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