Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that the Minister of State is responding to the issue on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, who is not here today. I am disappointed to learn that developing proposals in the area is still contingent on the merger of the equality bodies, as that is proceeding at such a slow pace. The word "shortly" has been used many times in the past year regarding the equality bodies, although I appreciate this is not a matter for which the Minister of State has direct responsibility.

When we discussed the matter last year I indicated that I did not understand in the first place why we needed to have public consultation on the issue. I accept there is absolutely a requirement from a legal perspective to be careful about the wording, particularly given the constitutional provisions in the area and the competing concerns regarding the constitutional provisions on equality on one hand and freedom of religion on the other. I accept the legal wording must be worked out.

I do not accept the need to consult on the principle of the matter. Either we accept that it is wrong to discriminate against people purely on the basis of their sexual orientation or we do not. If religious institutions could discriminate against somebody on the basis of colour or any other intrinsic quality, we would not ask them for their opinion on whether we should change the legislation, we would just accept it is wrong and move on with the change. I am unhappy that the process is still contingent on public consultation.

I ask the Minister of State to bring up the issue again with the Minister and ask that he brings more urgency to it. It is important. There is another school year coming and the Minister of State correctly commented on the progress made in other areas, such as bullying. I welcome that and the work done by the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Quinn, in particular, in prioritising the tackling of homophobic bullying. However, the reality is the reason so many young people are unhappy is because they are robbed of role models or teachers who cannot be free to be themselves. That leads to isolation, unhappiness, depression and, ultimately, suicide in our young people. It is great that we are working to tackle bullying but we must change the whole climate in which young teenagers are brought up if we are to tackle the issue.

I ask the Minister of State to revert to the Minister with these concerns and ask him to bring a greater sense of urgency to the issue.