Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

What is considered to be the family in modern Ireland is very different from how it was traditionally viewed when I was growing up. We need radical and inclusive legislation to reflect this new reality.

In the main, Sinn Féin welcomes the Bill and recognises that it will finally modernise Irish law regarding children living in diverse family norms. We have concerns about some of the provisions within the Bill and we will seek to amend them in an effort to enhance and make this legislation more inclusive to those who have previously been excluded.

This is not simple or straightforward legislation. It has more than 170 sections and it mainly focuses on extending guardianship, custody and adoption rights to different types of family, which is welcome and positive. It is unfortunate that the Bill has taken so long to get here and is passing through the Oireachtas during this timeframe. I think we all accept that the timing is particularly bad.

As this particular Children and Family Relationships Bill has now become synonymous with a same-sex couples adoption Bill, it means that some of those campaigning for a "No" vote in the marriage equality referendum will attempt to confuse, obfuscate and bewilder people when speaking about the right of same-sex couples to adopt.

The reality is that this already happens in Ireland except that just one parent in a same-sex relationship currently has a legal relationship with the child. This Bill quite simply extends the right of lesbian and gay couples jointly to adopt a child. It is always worth qualifying that the upcoming referendum has nothing to do with adoption or parental laws. I support the sections of the Bill which enable civil partners and cohabiting couples who have lived together for three years to apply jointly to adopt. This is something they can only do on an individual basis currently. Thankfully, this Bill means that children living in non-marital and non-traditional families will now be in a position to enjoy a legal relationship with the person who provides them with day-to-day parental care, whoever that may be. We all know of those types of family units. This is extremely important. The Proclamation of the Irish Republic in 1916 promised to "cherish all the children of the nation equally". No doubt, we will celebrating that process. It was about freedom but it was also about an inclusive Ireland. For far too long, we have discriminated against children from so-called non-traditional families and have not afforded them their full rights because of the supposed sexual orientation or marital status of their parents.

Many of us in this House will have major concerns with this Bill. All of us have been lobbied by groups representing unmarried fathers and since my time in office, many unmarried fathers and the Tallaght Unmarried Fathers group have consistently visited my constituency office. I know there is a group in Dundalk and other groups around the country. They are talking about how they want to be included in their child's lives but many of them are excluded. This Bill opened up a golden opportunity created to rectify some of the grossly unfair treatment faced by many unmarried fathers in the law. Sadly, that issue has been sidelined, brushed aside, ignored and left out. Sinn Féin would like to see the establishment of a central register for statutory declarations for joint guardianship to provide protection for the statutory declaration documents which grant guardianship rights to unmarried fathers in respect of their children. Currently, around 24,000 children are born every year with no legal or statutory relationship with their birth fathers. In my experience, many parents initially but mistakenly believe that having a father's name on a birth certificate gives him guardianship rights. This misinformation and misguided belief has had major adverse consequences for many children and their fathers.

One particular worry I have is the cohabitation section, which was mentioned by my colleague. A father living with the child's mother for 12 consecutive months, including at least three months with the mother and the child following the child's birth, will automatically become a guardian, but in many cases this is simply not possible and this section does not reflect reality, especially considering our current housing crisis and high emigration figures. Sometimes mothers are still living with their parents. It depends on age and other circumstances. It is not always appropriate or indeed possible for the father to live there as well. This is often the case with teenage or unplanned pregnancies. It does not always mean that the father is in any way shirking his responsibilities or not stepping up to the plate when it comes to rearing the child. In many cases, the circumstances are just not in his favour. Additionally, an increasing amount of fathers are being forced to work away from home and abroad in order to provide for the children yet this provision acts against them. There is nothing in the Bill for unmarried fathers aside from this provision regarding cohabiting for the requisite amount of time. Everyone else will continue to have to resort to the courts if the mother does not agree to sign a statutory declaration for joint guardianship. When I was growing up, I was in the lucky position of having a mother and father who were married but for many years in the early years of my life, my father worked abroad because there was no work in Ireland at the time. That did not mean that he loved me less. He still had that huge involvement in my life and is one of the people in my life I will never forget. In line with other jurisdictions such as Northern Ireland, Great Britain, many European countries and Australia, unmarried fathers should have automatic rights to their children when registering the birth. This is an area that Sinn Féin will certainly seek to strengthen.

We also would support the establishment of a comprehensive court welfare service to support the roll-out of this legislation. This service would provide an appropriate mechanism to carry out assessments of the child's welfare and best interests and ascertain his or her views while also carrying out family risk assessments. It would also ensure, where appropriate, that supports and services are available to the child and family such as mediation services and child contact centres.

The Bill will be judged by many on who it includes and excludes. Sadly, many will feel let down, left out and left behind. I think an opportunity was missed. I empathise with the Minister. If she tried to include many things, would we be pushing it nearer the referendum? If it is possible, we should look at the anomalies and gaps in this Bill at some stage in this House. It is like dealing with any issue. If you leave someone or a group behind, it is unfair. We are including people in this Bill but by not legislating for those we have left out, we are leaving them behind. It was a missed opportunity. Perhaps the Minister might address some of the issues we raised in her reply.

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