Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

Thank you, a Chathaoirligh. This is a bad day's work. The Government's decision to override the democratic view of the House, as expressed last week on Committee Stage in amendment No. 28, is bad for democracy and this House. The purpose of the amendment tabled by my colleague, Senator Cummins, and I last week was simple, namely, to include in the civil registration code for the first time a framework for registering voluntary guardianship agreements. If the Government had accepted the amendment, it would have gone a long way towards accepting what unmarried mothers and fathers are seeking. This issue does not favour one side of the equation over the other, but is in the interests of all unmarried parents who seek this change.

I regret that the Minister has introduced amendment No. 13 in an attempt to negate a section the House inserted in the Bill. If the Seanad is to have any role as a reviewing Chamber, it should be to ensure that issues such as these are debated, as this one has been, and to stand by the decisions at which it arrives. The Government's attitude in refusing to accept the democratic will of the House on this matter is a retrograde step.

My amendment, which I tabled knowing that the Minister intended to do this, gives the Minister the power to introduce this section at a time of her choosing, following consultation with the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, instead of deleting what we inserted last week after extensive debate. The Minister stated that other countries have dealt with this in a different way. I accept that, but I suggest that we do it in this way because a guardianship agreement between an unmarried father and an unmarried mother is a very important life event for those people. It is very important for a child to know that this very important document is in a safe place, is registered by the State and is open to recourse by the courts or anyone else in terms of where that document has been registered.

Let me put the view, received by my office at 1 p.m. today, from Treoir, the group that represents unmarried parents in Ireland. Regarding a register of joint guardianship agreements, Treoir believes strongly that the appropriate place for such a register is the Registrar General's Office with the records of significant life events because, in effect, the guardianship of married parents is registered in the Registrar General's Office through marriage registration and it is appropriate that guardianship agreements be registered there and not in the courts.

The debate in the House last week and previously was an excellent one but, before we vote on this matter, my solution is to leave the section that was inserted in the Bill last week and to give the Minister absolute discretion to introduce the section when she wishes, in consultation with her colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, rather than railroading in a Government amendment negating the section in question. I ask her to rethink this and not to use the Government's majority in the way it is normally used because I believe there is considerable public support for making sure that guardianship arrangements are part and parcel of the civil registration code. I make that plea to the Minister even at this late stage.