Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak to amendment No. 47. We discussed this at length on Committee Stage and I appreciate that the Minister has put in an amendment to strengthen the area of statutory declarations.

This is a serious debate and organisations such as Treoir have been to the forefront in highlighting the issue. There is inequality as between a father and a mother as things stand. There must be thousands of fathers out there who did not realise when they registered their name on the child's birth certificate that it did not automatically entitle them to guardianship. One third of children are born to mothers who are not married, many of whom are very young and even teenagers. We always tell young men to step up to the plate, to be a father, be a man and pay their maintenance. We tell them to be there for their child and to support their child, even if they are not going to continue in a relationship with the mother. Without this legislation being enacted, we will not have equality as a father's right to guardianship is subject to the consent of the mother. This makes it an unequal relationship. When a man proudly registers his name, he will be advised that it confers no entitlement to guardianship and that he should seek the agreement of the mother to a statutory declaration. If the mother disagrees, however, it will end up in court.

I appreciate that this provides a measure of safety but we should devise a system where people do not go down the road of going to court on these matters. The registrar should be able to give the necessary information from the get-go. The fact that a father is there means he wants to be there and wants to fulfil his responsibilities. It is unfortunate that, with so many men walking away from their responsibilities, when a man actually turns up to accept his responsibility and wants his name on the register he cannot have equality.

The point is sometimes made that in many cases men are not really equal parents because they do not share the parenting responsibilities. Then there are the cases of domestic abuse and where a man who is not really a fit father likes the idea of calling himself a father without what comes with it and it is for these cases that there is an option to go to court.

This Bill is very welcome and long overdue. The difficulty is that until we have reform of family law, a mediation Bill and investment in the court system we will have the spectacle of separated parents in packed courtrooms across the State, with all the stress that goes with that. We will not have equality between a father and a mother, particularly in cases where a father steps up to the plate. I do not think conditionality in the form of residency - what I have called "the co-habitance clause" - is fair because sometimes a father cannot live with a mother. The mother may live with her parents if she is very young, or maybe the father has to work away from home so cannot comply with the need to live with her for three months after the child is born and nine other months. It is unfortunate we have that requirement and I cannot agree to it so I will press my amendment today. I do not assume I will get support from the Minister today but as we develop these debates through future legislation we can revisit the issue and ensure the overall system gives as many guarantees and protections as possible for the father, the mother and, most important, the child.

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