Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Since that time, there has been much positive change for lesbians and gay men. A broad range of equality legislation and the associated equality infrastructure has been put in place. The Government's amendment to the motion before the House this evening quite properly records that progress and shows that in the particular area of protection against discrimination, Ireland has been to the forefront internationally. The various legislative enactments set out in the Government amendment are a response to the expressed terms in the motion, as proposed, which referred to the statements of the then Minister for Justice in 1993.

The Government proposes to go a step further. In An Agreed Programme for Government we have committed ourselves to legislating for civil partnerships. This commitment is given concrete expression in the Government legislative programme which includes a civil partnership Bill providing for a system of civil registration of same-sex partnerships and for certain legal protections for them and other cohabitants. The Government has asked me to bring forward a scheme of a Bill by the end of March and I intend to do so. While that may not be in the Government amendment, I am happy to put that on the record.

The scheme of a Bill currently being prepared in my Department will be extensive with provisions ranging across diverse areas of the law, including civil registration, maintenance, property rights and succession, pensions, taxation and many other matters. I note Fine Gael has tabled an amendment to which I do not take any great exception.

The Government's approach, which was approved by the Dáil last November, is to provide a statutory scheme from which same-sex couples who choose to register their partnerships will derive extensive rights and protections. This scheme will build on the Colley options paper and the Law Reform Commission report on cohabitants.

It will provide for a redress scheme open to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The redress scheme is proposed specifically to protect vulnerable dependent cohabitants at the end of a relationship where the couple have neither married nor entered a civil partnership.

The Government has decided that civil partnership legislation is the appropriate way to proceed having regard to the boundaries set by the Constitution. The Independent Senators' motion calls for access to civil marriage for gay couples. This call has been echoed by some outside the House in recent days and I have listened very carefully to their arguments. I accept that those who put them forward do so out of the highest and sincerely held motives.

However, as the Minister responsible for law reform, I must bring in a law that is consistent with our Constitution. The advice of successive Attorneys General is that same-sex marriage would not be constitutional. Within the Constitution, marriage has a very specific judicial meaning and that meaning does not encompass same-sex marriage. This was confirmed most recently in the proceedings referred to by Senator Bacik, the Zappone and Gilligan case, in which she correctly pointed out that she had an interest. The High Court found that there is no right for same-sex couples to marry under our Constitution. In evidence in that case, it was also clear that the consensus internationally does not support a move towards same-sex marriage. There has been limited support for the concept of same-sex marriage in Canada, Massachusetts and South Africa together with three European jurisdictions, namely, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Some jurisdictions have given recognition of some kind to same-sex and opposite-sex couples with or without a registration scheme. Ten of the European Union states are without a registration scheme. The observation of the court was that there is no discernible pattern apparent from the approaches taken in the different jurisdictions. I have taken note of the court's comment and I quote from the judgment of the learned High Court judge who stated:

[U]ndoubtedly people in the position of the Plaintiffs in the case be they same-sex couples or heterosexual couples can suffer difficulty or hardship in the event of the death or serious illness of their partner . . . It is hoped that the legislative changes to ameliorate these difficulties will not be long in coming. Ultimately it is for the legislature to determine the extent to which such changes should be made.

The civil partnership Bill will address these issues. The Zappone case is being appealed to the Supreme Court. I had a choice and I could have awaited the outcome of that appeal. However, the Government believes we should make progress on this matter at an early date.

We should proceed now to introduce a law that will give recognition and protection to same sex couples who are involved in committed, stable relationships. It is the responsibility of the State to provide a supportive legal framework for such relationships. That is the view of the Government and that is why the agreed programme for Government has committed us to making progress on this matter as quickly as possible.

Senator O'Donovan, who moved amendment No. 1 to the motion, chaired the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, which in its tenth report, entitled "The Family" and published in January 2006, supports the approach by the Government in respect of this matter. In that report, the committee concluded that a proposal to amend the Constitution to extend the definition of the family would be deeply divisive and would not necessarily be passed. I share this conclusion. Presenting this issue to the people in a constitutional referendum would be deeply divisive and unsuccessful and would jeopardise the progress we have made in the past 15 years. We need to remind ourselves that considerable progress has been made. When homosexuality was decriminalised in 1993, who would have thought that just 15 years later we would be discussing the legal recognition by the State of same sex partnerships?

The Oireachtas committee took the view that the principal development for same sex couples should come at legislative level and this is precisely the course of action the Government has decided to take. I look forward to bringing about change by presenting the proposals for a civil partnership Bill to Government in the coming weeks. Those proposals will put in place a comprehensive and supportive legal framework for same sex couples. I urge the House to back the Government's measured approach by supporting amendment No. 1.