David Norris (Independent)

I second the amendment. I had put down an amendment in the first instance on Committee Stage. My position is perhaps more radical as I am disquieted by the fact that the apparent proposals of the Government do not include any such provision in the civil partnership Bill. It is clear the Government has shied away from it, although it is a very important aspect and a principal defect of the proposed civil partnership Bill.

There is no sign of the civil partnership legislation, even though we have had repeated promises on it. It is nearly five years since I put a civil partnership Bill on the Order Paper of this House and it was kicked by the former Taoiseach, Deputy Bertie Ahern, into every committee, sub-committee and think tank etc. in an act of prevarication and nonsense.

As these problems continuously recur in social welfare and other legislation, we continue to get fobbed off with promises. Will the Minister of State try to impress on his colleagues that we need legislation in this area? I believe it is appropriate here but if the Minister of State indicates it is not and that it will be dealt with elsewhere, we should ensure we get the opportunity to hammer the matter out even if what the Government ultimately produces is a defective Bill.

There will be defects and the children will be let down once again. I am not just talking about the rights of parents because that can be a selfish matter. Gay people can be just as selfish as anybody else and there is no automatic right to have children. The child should be the centre of the matter, which is why in the amendment I put down it was clear that the rights and welfare of the child were primary. I made other points regarding couples recognised in other states; I cannot remember the exact formulation but I was clearly speaking about gay couples so we will use that shorthand. Such couples could be vetted to gauge suitability as there is no automatic right for gay people to adopt.

This is an important amendment, which I decided to leave with Senator Bacik because her amendment came at an earlier stage in the Bill. What is the point in putting down a number of amendments, as one will be called and others added to it, and I can make my argument? This should not be the principal focus of this Bill but it presents an opportunity for us to remind the Government of its lamentable failure in this area. We do not even have the civil partnership Bill but it will be defective in this area when it is introduced. That is a battle which needs to be fought. It would not need to be fought if this was a Government with vision but unfortunately it is not.

Neither Senator Bacik nor I will want to call a vote on this but we wish to signal to the Minister that this is an area of human concern. If the Government was caring and interested in a socially constructive circumstance, it would pay attention to it.