Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I support this Bill on behalf of the Labour Party and I thank Senator Norris for introducing it. In doing so, and in his previous work in the Seanad, the Senator promotes this House which is often ahead of the Dáil in introducing measures such as this.

This Bill recognises social reality. Senator Kett mentioned the Taoiseach's referral of the issue to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, of which I am a member. The committee will give the issue thorough examination and is already looking at the entire area that incorporates this issue, but what happens to its reports? Last year the ninth report was issued on property rights and nothing has been done about its recommendations.

We do not need any more information. Senator Kett spoke about expert knowledge but we do not need expert knowledge on this issue. This Bill is a recognition of reality and the fact that society is ahead of us as legislators. We must now legislate to deal with the way families are being formed. People are entering non-marital unions and the law must recogise and support them.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform concentrated on rights and obligations, reducing this to a simplistic focus. This Bill has nothing to do with the issue of rights versus obligations. People who make up any type of family take on obligations to each other and there is no avoiding them. Heterosexual couples who can get married but choose not to, do not do so to avoid obligations. This issue is complicated but it is an increasingly common family unit. The quarterly figures from the Central Statistics Office show that 30% of births take place outside marriage. If a person has a child with someone, he or she takes on obligations.

This Bill has nothing to do with rights and obligations, it is about supporting families. The Department of Social and Family Affairs stated that in the context of increasing diversity in Irish society, we need an inclusive definition of "family" that encompasses all types of families. To be inclusive, a definition should be capable of embracing such diverse family forms as those made up of grandparents and children, foster parents and children, lone parents and children, unmarried partners and children as well as same sex parents and children.

This Bill is part of that process. It does not include the example the Minister gave of the two elderly bachelor brothers living together but we have already taken measures to try and support such a unit in the tax code. Why would we not do so? Such people need to be supported and when they live as a unit, it would be wrong to leave one homeless if the other died. Of course we should support any type of unit and the measures in this Bill will support families of the type outlined in the legislation. We should also take measures to support the other types of families the Minister has mentioned.

We should do so because we want to support a large portion of society. There are good economic and social arguments which support this approach, even for those from a socially conservative background. Senator Norris's Bill promotes two people forming a stable relationship, something we should support.

There are sound economic reasons for this approach. Our legislation is contradictory. When the Minister spoke of rights and obligations, if that is the focus, why does the tax code not recognise heterosexual, unmarried couples or same-sex couples in terms of tax bands, while the social welfare code recognises unmarried heterosexual couples as married? The Departments do that to save the State money. We are, however, losing money. If people form stable relationships and we protect them through the social welfare and tax systems, we help society. If we leave someone homeless or if we must provide a person with local authority housing because he or she cannot inherit the home shared with a partner, it will cost the State more and that is a waste of money.

The Taoiseach has referred this matter to the All-Party Committee on the Constitution because he wants to kick it into touch and he does not want to face up to the issue. It will be dealt with inevitably. Other countries are ahead of us on this issue. Society is ahead of the Legislature on this matter. The train is leaving the station and the Government is either on it or standing on the platform. The Government should hop on the train with Senator Norris and allow for positive legislation that supports families.