Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I am delighted to support these amendments, three of which were tabled by Senator Norris with the support of the Labour Party and one of which we tabled, amendment No. 64 which in essence has the same aim as amendment No. 63. All four amendments have in common the main and critical aim of seeking to write into the Bill the rights of children which are noticeably lacking now. The single biggest criticism of the model of civil partnership with which the Minister has presented us is that it makes no provision for the rights of the children of gay couples.

As I said earlier, we know many children are living in families with gay parents whose rights are not recognised, in particular their rights vis-À-vis the non-birth or non-adoptive parent in the relationship. Senator Norris referred to the very helpful advice of the Ombudsman for Children, which I quoted earlier. It is worth noting that she said the children of same-sex parents who enter into a civil partnership will be left at a clear disadvantage compared with other children if the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Bill remains as it is. She made some very practical suggestions for amendments to the Bill and many of her recommendations are incorporated into these amendments and in amendments Nos. 5 and 37 which we also tabled with the support of Senator Norris.

The ombudsman recommended that provision be made in the Bill for special guardianship, which is what amendment No. 37 seeks to do, to ensure the non-birth or non-adoptive parent in a gay couple who enter a civil partnership would be able to be made a guardian of the child, which would then give him or her rights of access and other rights if the relationship were to break down. Any provision for that is notably absent from the Bill. She also recommended that the Bill be amended to ensure adequate protection for the children of civil partners in the areas of shared home protection, maintenance, succession, dissolution of civil partnerships and related matters. They are very important areas.

It is wrong to say there is no reference to children in the Bill. I am sure the Minister will refer us to the provisions which exist and are welcome but they are very limited. Section 73(8) provides for the succession rights of a child of a civil partner's estate but it does not refer to the child of a non-birth or non-adoptive parent in a civil partnership, which again is a major omission. Section 129, which was section 127 when the ombudsman referred to it, also refers in the context of the dissolution of a civil partnership to a court being able to have regard to the child to whom either civil partner owes an obligation of support. Again, that is welcome because it will give some discretion to the courts to make maintenance orders but there is nothing in the Bill about the rights of child to the guardianship of their parent who is not a birth or adoptive parent within a civil partnership which is a glaring omission and will place the children of gay families at a real disadvantage.

I am very grateful to Senator Norris for tabling these amendments. We planned to draft similar amendments and when we saw his amendments were framed in such a well-crafted way, we felt they were worth supporting. Amendment No. 2 defines "dependent child" very similarly to the definition already provided in the Bill in section 171 which provides for the children of cohabiting couples. It is very close to the Minister's wording and I do not see why he could not support it.

Amendment No. 22 simply refers to writing in the dependent child in section 29 and amendments Nos. 63 and 64 seek to do similar things, giving the court specific power to have regard to the circumstances of the dependent child or children of civil partners. These are vital amendments which need to be made to ensure the children in gay families have rights and status equal to those in marital families.

In 1987 we abolished the status of illegitimacy and no longer think it acceptable for a child to have a different status depending on whether his or her parents are cohabiting or marital, but we still regard the children of gay couples in a different and discriminatory way, as the ombudsman has so clearly pointed put. The Minister said he is awaiting a review from the Law Reform Commission on this area but we have been waiting a long time. Senator Norris pointed out that when we debated the Adoption Bill, to which he and I tabled amendments on special guardianship and extending eligibility to adopt to gay couples, the Minster of State, Deputy Andrews, told us this Bill would come to the House which would be a more appropriate time to consider the issue.

We have been waiting long enough. It may well be that the review will provide greater guidance as to how we may see a comprehensive reform of the law on children, which we very much welcome, but this is the time, given that we are passing a law which will recognise gay couples for the first time and giving the status of civil partnership, that we should also be giving status and rights to the many existing children of gay couples and give them rights in this Bill. I urge the Minister to accept these amendments and the others we have tabled with the aim of seeking to write the rights of the child back into the Bill.