Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Tairgim: "Go léifear an Bille an Dara hUair anois."

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

Today, I am bringing before the House two Bills the aim of which is to update our Constitution to reflect the values of a modern, inclusive Ireland. Words are important. As the fundamental law of Ireland, the words in our Constitution are particularly important. They have real legal meaning. They speak to our values as a country, and right now, the words of Article 41 of the Constitution do not match our values. Those words mean the exclusion of thousands of families from the recognition and protection of the Constitution, solely because those families are not based on marriage. Those words seek to contain women in a singular role, a role completely divorced from the reality of women's lives and their careers across our country today. They fail to recognise that care in a family, be it the care of young children, a sibling with a disability, or an elderly parent, is a role for everybody, irrespective of their gender.

In the two referendums being proposed, we have the opportunity to change those words, the chance to build on previous reforms to our Constitution, such as children's rights and marriage equality, and reflect the continuation of our journey towards a more compassionate, inclusive and equal society.

The first of the Bills is the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (The Family) Bill. The primary purpose of this Bill is to amend Article 41 of the Constitution to provide for a wider concept of family. The proposed amendment reaffirms the family as the fundamental unit of society. It does this in a way that recognises families beyond those based on marriage, including lone-parent families and couples who choose not to marry, whether or not they have children.

This amendment is not merely symbolic. It will ensure that the constitutional protections for the family will extend to those families. It will give to those families the right to manage decisions within their own families, giving them the protections that currently apply only to the marital family. There is, however, something deeply meaningful about this proposal that transcends its practical impact. The Constitution was written at a time when society only recognised and respected one kind of family. Families which fell outside that single ideal were stigmatised and spurned.

In the past, non-marital families, and single mothers and their children in particular, were discriminated against and made to feel they were not a full part of our society. They were denied constitutional recognition as families. Through our shameful legacy of mother and baby institutions thousands, they were also denied the opportunity to live together as a family. Thankfully, these outdated views no longer hold sway. In addition, the recognition that families exist beyond the marital family is already reflected in statute, through legislation such as the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010. In this way, society and statute have already moved ahead of our Constitution in terms of the reality of the modern family. Until our Constitution recognises those families which are founded on committed and enduring relationships other than marriage, however, we cannot say that as both a State and a society we have fully faced this aspect of our past and rejected the discrimination which was experienced. This referendum presents an opportunity to put things right. It is our chance to say to the one-parent families or unmarried couples of the past and the present that they are just as fundamental to our society as any other family.

The reality is that the marital family is not the only kind of family that exists in Ireland, and it never was. There are women in Ireland today, maybe they are grannies or great-grandparents now, who built stable and loving homes alone, nurturing their children while all the time working to support those children. In many cases, society openly regarded those women as being lesser. The women in question are in my mind today as I bring forward this proposed amendment to the Constitution. I do not believe they will see it as a mere gesture. I do not think their children will see this as a mere gesture, those children who grew up in the shadow of that egregious term "illegitimacy". I do not believe they will see what we are proposing to do as a mere gesture. This amendment matters.

A great amount of consideration and time has been given to this proposed amendment. The Citizens’ Assembly on Gender Equality was crucially important in progressing this work, so I take this opportunity to thank all those citizens who gave of their time during the pandemic to consider and provide thoughtful proposals for constitutional change in this area. I also thank the assembly's chairperson, Catherine Day. I hope that some of them are watching this debate and seeing their recommendations potentially become reality. In its report the assembly noted that there have been calls for many years for the references to family in the Constitution to be expanded beyond the marital family. A number of public submissions to the assembly argued that the limitation to the marital family discriminates against other family forms and is not in line with current international best practice and norms or even certain aspects of Irish legislation and policy.

In taking forward the recommendations from the citizens’ assembly, the Special Joint Oireachtas Committee on Gender Equality also gave this detailed consideration. The committee held some 23 public meetings and considered more than 60 written submissions. The committee’s proposals around constitutional reform gave us the building blocks to progress this proposed amendment. I sincerely thank the committee chairperson, Deputy Bacik, who is here today, and the other members of the committee for their work in compiling the report and recommendations.

In March, the Taoiseach and I announced plans to hold referendums to give effect to the recommendations of the citizens’ assembly and the Oireachtas committee. I know there has been some frustration that it has taken us a number of months to finalise the wording on the proposals, but constitutional change should not be taken lightly, and intensive work was needed to ensure we landed on the right formula of words. The interdepartmental group which dealt with this matter was chaired by my Department and included representatives from all Departments and the Office of the Attorney General. It undertook extensive scoping work and supported the development of policy proposals which were then deliberated and decided upon by the Government. The Government took its deliberations on these proposals very seriously.

As already stated, the current language of Article 41 does not reflect the reality of life in Ireland today. What constitutes a family is not defined in the Constitution outside of the reference to it being founded on marriage. This amendment will make it clear in our Constitution that the family extends beyond the marital family. The amendment aims to bring our Constitution in line with what is now the norm in Irish society by recognising and affording long-awaited constitutional status and protection to families founded on committed, durable relationships other than marriage.

The proposed amendment does not seek to define the family in Article 41, nor would it be appropriate for it to do so. It simply recognises that the concept of the family outlined in Article 41 is no longer limited to the marital family and also encompasses other durable, committed relationships, including one-parent families and cohabiting couples and their children. In terms of the Constitution as it stands, the family continues to be described as the fundamental unit group of society. There are no proposed changes to this element of the existing Article 41.

We considered various options for the wording and where it should be located within the Constitution. The proposed amendment recognises the more inclusive concept of family in a positive, upfront manner within Article 41 rather than solely in Article 41.3.1° which is centred on marriage. In this regard it is important to note that the proposed amendment does not remove the special and unique status of marriage within the Constitution. The proposal removes the words "on which the family is founded" from Article 41.3.1°. However, the State’s pledge within the Constitution to guard with special care the institution of marriage and to protect it against attack will remain in place. The marriage equality referendum affirmed that marriage has a special position and it would not be appropriate to remove that affirmation by the people with this proposal. In addition, the amendment will not impact on the ability of any government to provide for taxation arrangements and other entitlements which may be linked to marriage.

I will now outline the key elements of the Bill as initiated. The Bill consists of two sections and a Schedule.

Section 1 provides for the amendment of Article 41 of the Constitution by the insertion of the words "whether founded on marriage or other durable relationships" after “the Family” in the English text of Article 41.1.1°, and "bíodh sé bunaithe ar an bpósadh nó ar chóngais bhuanfasacha eile", after “an Teaghlach” in the Irish text. This section also makes provision for the substitution of the text contained in the Schedule in both the English and Irish text. This is simply allowing for the removal of the words “on which the Family is founded” from Article 41.3.1°. The section allows for the renumbering of relevant sections, depending on the passing and enactment of the Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023.

Section 2 is the citation provision and sets out that the constitutional amendment shall be called the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution. This section also provides for the Act to be cited as the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (The Family) Act 2023.

The Schedule contains the wording "The State pledges itself to guard with special care the institution of Marriage and to protect it against attack" in both English and Irish. This is to allow it to be substituted to the relevant section, subject to the passing of the Bill and the passing of the Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023.

The aim of this proposed amendment is to allow for long-awaited constitutional recognition of families outside of the marital family. The amendment will mean that our Constitution recognises families which are not based on marriage, but it will retain the special protection for marriage. The proposed constitutional change is consistent with the reality of diverse family formation in Ireland today and it will allow us to bring our Constitution in line with what is already the norm in Irish society. It will afford families, be they based on marriage or on other durable relationships, the same constitutional protection. This change will mark an important step forward for our Constitution and help us to reinforce the family values that our society holds dear.

I commend this Bill to the House.

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