Dominic Hannigan (Meath East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Government is not opposing the Second Stage of the Bill introduced by Opposition Members tonight. That is a positive move on behalf of the Government and reflects that we have been pushing to have changes to this issue for some time. There is a Bill in the Seanad, the Employment Equality (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2013, prepared by the previous speaker, the Minister of State, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, Deputy Conway and I - all Labour Party Deputies - and by Senator Bacik. That is working its slow and arduous way through the House.

The Government is drafting amendments to improve the proposed legislation. From speaking to the Minister of State, I know he intends to push those amendments through as soon as possible so that the Seanad Committee Stage can be taken, hopefully before the summer recess. We are very hopeful that we will see changes to section 37 of the Employment Equality Act within the next six weeks.

We introduced that Bill in 2013 because of the so-called chill factor in employment laws. The current situation allows for discrimination against people by religious-run organisations. For certain sections of society, not just members of the LGBT community but also potentially people who might be divorced or unmarried parents, if it is felt that their lifestyle does not fit in with the ethos of the religious organisation running a particular institution, they run the risk of being removed and fired from that job legally. That such discrimination still exists in our society at this stage suggests that previous governments were remiss in not changing the laws to reflect the changing nature of Irish society.

It is very positive that there seems to be a groundswell of opinion from Members on all sides of the House to try to make changes to this legislation. The Government has been very progressive on issues such as this. The repeal of section 37 was contained in our manifesto in 2011. We managed to get it into the programme for Government and the Government will push forward with the Bill we introduced in 2013 to address the issue.

It is one area in which we will see improvements. Our manifesto proposal to introduce marriage equality has moved through the House and the people voted for it in the referendum by a majority of 62% to 38% last month. That is a very positive result from our time in government. When I look back at my career in here, I will look back with fondness at having been involved in the debate and the subsequent success of the referendum.

We have also introduced changes to how the school curriculum addresses issues regarding LGBT students.

I have already seen the benefits of this in my own and other constituencies where, in an effort to raise awareness of LGBT issues, teachers are inviting members of the LGBT community to schools to speak to fifth and sixth year students about what life as an LGBT person is like. This a direct result, I believe, of the inclusion in the Labour Party manifesto of a proposal aimed at tackling homophobic bullying in schools. There have been big changes in the way the LGBT community is addressed and looked after by this Government. The legislation I referred to earlier, to which the Minister proposes to make amendments, will bring about further improvements. This is a reflection of the changing nature of Irish society.

I compliment the Opposition and all parties in this House on the mature manner in which we are now dealing with issues relating to the LGBT community. Things have changed dramatically in the past two or three decades since homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993. It is great to see the support that exists throughout this House for measures that seek to ensure the lives of all of our citizens are respected and that the rights of our all of our citizens to enjoy the freedom to be who they are at home and at work is reflected in our laws.

I look forward to the enactment of legislation on this issue, although I am not sure it will be this particular legislation. I suspect it is more likely that the legislation to which I and others have put our names will be enacted. However, I compliment the members of the Opposition who tabled this legislation to ensure this issue is better understood by the people and that support for the removal of the odious section 37 is increased throughout the country.

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