David Norris (Independent)

I have already had an opportunity to pay tribute to the late wonderful broadcaster, Gerry Ryan. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for me to say anything more at this stage, apart from this. I was in a taxi yesterday and the taxi driver said he was disgusted because he had just passed the Ryan household in Clontarf and saw banks of photographers outside. In the house there was a grieving widow and the children had appealed for privacy. I ask the Leader to impart some knowledge to the House on when the legislation on privacy promised by the Government will be introduced.

I again refer to the fact the Legislature has significantly failed to uphold the rights of citizens by legislation, in this case the rights of unmarried fathers to guardianship of their children. Two years ago there was a decision in a case in the High Court which recognised the existence of a de facto family but last December the Supreme Court stated there was no recognition of the existene of a de facto family in Irish law or under the Constitution which only protected what it described as the marital family. Last week a father lost his case for guardianship, despite the fact that his partner had removed his children to England without his consent, because he had not raised the issue by applying for guardianship in the courts. A significant editorial in The Irish Times stated:

A father who spent many years devotedly caring for his children could find that, unless he had obtained guardianship through agreement with his partner or through a court order, he had no rights when the relationship broke up. The fact that one in three children is born outside marriage in Ireland underlies the potential scale of the problem.

The Law Reform Commission's provisional report has recommended that unless it is against the best interests of the child, the right of an unmarried father to guardianship should be recognised in law. We are in dereliction of our duty by not examining this issue and passing the appropriate legislation. I pay tribute to Mr. John Waters who has campaigned ceaselessly on this issue in the column of the newspaper for which he writes.