Martin Ferris (Kerry North-West Limerick, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin supports this Bill, as it seeks to reflect the social change that has taken place in Ireland in recent decades in terms of family relationships and the children within them. Every Deputy in their constituency clinic sees the manifestation of those changes every day and it is correct that our laws should reflect them. The long wait for this legislation has left many people in legal limbo regarding various aspects of their family lives and it is a good thing that those matters will now be sorted out without having to go through expensive and lengthy legal processes.

Single parenthood and families which mix the children of two former families are common and there are all sorts of issues to do with guardianship, custody, adoption and cohabitation in the many new forms of family life which exist now in Ireland. All of the people involved in these families have rights and responsibilities and it is proper that the law moves to protect all of them. Most particularly, the rights of children must be protected by legislation and the obligations of parents and guardians too must be enshrined in law.

The Bill contains provisions which will challenge our traditional view of the family but it is time to move on in that regard. In many instances the traditional view of family has failed children as well as parents. This legislation in itself will help to change the attitude of those who hanker for the day when the nuclear family as we knew it was the only family recognised in law. The Bill will allow couples who have been together for three years to apply jointly to adopt. That is a good provision to replace the current situation where just one of the couple can be an adoptive parent. There have been sad and tragic circumstances where one half of a loving couple of parents dies and grandparents have stepped in to prevent the surviving parent from having access to the child and in cases where the person in question was not legally an adoptive parent, he or she had no rights despite a long-term relationship with the child. It is to be welcomed that children living in non-marital and non-traditional families will be in a position to enjoy a legal relationship with the person who provides them with day-to-day parental care, whoever that person may be.

Single persons who are gay or lesbian have been allowed to adopt children before now. The Children and Family Relationships Bill just ensures that in the case of same-sex relationships, both parents are guardians and the child has the same rights as any other child. It is unfortunate that some people who want to live in the past and who do not support the Bill have been calling it the gay adoption Bill, as if gay people could not already adopt.

I am pleased to note provision for fathers' rights in the Bill, because it was a serious omission and led to a lot of unmarried fathers having restricted or no access to their children. All of us as elected representatives have encountered that in our clinics in the past. The Bill could have gone further, as there is still no option for an unmarried father if the mother of his child will not sign the statutory declaration for joint guardianship, except cohabitation for the requisite length of time. The new provision for someone who has lived with a parent for three years and looked after a child for two years being able to apply for guardianship or custody is also a good provision.

There have been countless sad and even tragic stories in this country in the past about people who could not find their families due to illegal and irregular adoption practices. I welcome the provision where all children who are born via assisted human reproduction will be able to trace their donors. There is hardly an extended family in this island that has not encountered restrictions being put in their way when trying to find birth parents or their children who were given up for adoption.

There are some provisions which we will try to amend on Committee Stage, but in general this is good legislation and I congratulate the Minister on it. Now, the question is whether the framework around the legislation is fit for purpose. Will there be a court welfare service to back up the provisions of the Bill? There is a lack of appropriate mechanisms to assess a child's welfare and best interests. Will there be mechanisms in place to allow older children to express their views on the situation and to have those views impartially assessed? Will mediation, counselling and welfare services be able to deal with the proper implementation of the legislation? Is there any plan to train the Judiciary to deal adequately with complex family law cases? Will family law courts have the services of properly trained free legal aid solicitors? Family law cases can genuinely be life-changing for all those involved and every measure must be taken to ensure that decisions about a family are well informed and backed by the best possible training and knowledge.

It must be made very clear that the Bill and the forthcoming referendum on marriage equality are totally separate. The referendum on 22 May is about marriage and has nothing to do with children. The sole question which people will be asked is whether gay and lesbian couples can marry. That is all. Those against marriage equality will try to confuse the issue, but it must be made clear that children are not involved in the question being put on 22 May. Meanwhile, although there may be some amendments from Sinn Féin on Committee Stage, we generally support the broad thrust of the Bill and we congratulate the Minister.

See this speech in context