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

The clear message is that our Constitution needs to reflect our values. Right now our Constitution does not reflect our values because it places women in a particular category and does not suggest that men or anybody else should be involved in the business of care. It excludes so many families from the recognition of the family in our Constitution. I remember that in 2015, when I was also in a situation in which I was forever excluded from access to the family through the institution of marriage, that was the driving force for my going out and knocking on doors. My situation was addressed by that referendum and, subsequently, being able to get married, but tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people whom all of us would call families do not fit within the definition of "the family" under Article 41, and we can address that. We have to bring our Constitution into line with our values and with people's lives in this country. That will be a central argument.

As Deputy Smith knows, the Government does not make the decision as to whether something is ruled out of order; that is a decision for the Bills Office. I would not have been in a position to accept amendment No. 1. A lot of discussion was undertaken in respect of Article 40.1 and whether there should be a third referendum. We looked at the proposals, the wording, put forward by the Oireachtas joint committee. The term the Deputy seeks to delete and replace is: "This shall not be held to mean that the State shall not in its enactments have due regard to the differences of capacity, physical and moral, and of social function." That line is very wordy but actually quite important in that, after the broad statement of equality in Article 40.1, it allows for positive discrimination. It recognises that the Government can make certain changes. It recognises that the one-size-fits-all approach is not actually equality because there are measures that can be taken to support people, whether through gender quotas or supports for people with disabilities accessing work. Those are all permitted. It is not blanket equality and just walking away. It recognises that people start from different places, and that is provided for in law as well. That is the line the Deputy would be taking out. Looking back over the jurisprudence over the years, that line is quite important when the State designs schemes to support people who are more vulnerable.

See this speech in context