Katherine Zappone (Dublin South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy again for raising these exceedingly important issues, which are particularly important and significant for me also. I was fully aware of and delighted to hear that the Deputy was at the meeting on Sunday. I spoke to the director of LGBT Ireland on Sunday night to hear how the meeting had gone. I am deeply conscious of the experiences of parents like the couple the Deputy identifies and of the urgency of the matter. Many of these people are my friends and I am concerned as much about those who have been couples with children for years as I am about those who are about to have children. I spoke to a couple only last evening who said to me that their children, who are younger kids, believe they are a family because of the passing of the marriage equality referendum. That is what they know and that is what they understand. The concerns lay in particular with the parents. Those are the concerns I am aware of and I acknowledge the urgency of the regulations, which need to happen soon.

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