Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In view of the Minister's comments yesterday I will quote comments I made previously, particularly on Senator Norris's Bill which we debated on 16 February 2005:

I have reservations about the Bill and I have spoken privately with the Senator in this regard. It raises issues which will need to be teased out over a period of time, and will need to be done in a sensitive way in the interest of the individuals who find themselves in certain situations and also in the interest of society as a whole. To some extent this represents the challenge to the Government and to all of us in the Houses. On the one hand we must cater for the individual while at the same time ensuring that the well being of society is preserved.

In a similar vein in the debate on the Civil Partnership Bill debate in 2010 I stated:

Existing marriage rights should remain unique to marriage because of its uniquely pro-child nature. It is not discrimination to treat a unique institution such as marriage between a man and a woman in a unique manner.

The proposal to have a referendum to redefine marriage is being framed in terms of equality. Yesterday, a Senator stated it was important to recognise diversity as opposed to sameness and this was said again today. The Senator spoke about diverse family formations, but the same can be said about marriage. Why would we want to have the same model for all unions when the current model recognises the diversity and difference between those types of unions? I was criticised for opposing civil partnership. The reason I did so was because I felt it was too analogous to marriage and would inevitably lead to redefining marriage. Despite assurances given at the time, this has indeed come to pass. Lobby groups in favour of same-sex marriage use civil partnership as a justification for redefining marriage. They argue civil partnership creates a separate but equal situation and that only same-sex marriage will remedy it.

Yesterday, I spoke at length about mothers and fathers. One reason for not having this marriage referendum now is the Supreme Court has yet to rule in the Jordan case, in which the referendum Act itself is under scrutiny. Article 41.1.1° of the Constitution states the State recognises the family as the natural primary and fundamental unit of society. An interesting and thought provoking article by Bruce Arnold was published recently. It covered areas which have not yet been debated in the House. To some extent I am concerned about the groupthink in the political party structure and the media. It was extraordinary that last week a very large protest was held outside Leinster House by the pro-life campaign highlighting the fact that in the past two months 33 articles had appeared advocating abortion but only one had appeared supporting the pro-life position. This groupthink needs to be challenged. It is not good for society.

Bruce Arnold wrote:

It is the "nature" of life that bestows on marriage its unique character. All living organisms on the surface of the world, and beneath and above that surface, are motivated by simple and basic instincts, the two most important of which are survival and procreation.

He also wrote:

For me the meaning of marriage is a unique accomplishment shared not just with the vast majority of human beings on the planet, but something that is shared also with all living creatures. Their instinct to survive and procreate, sustaining the eternity of their ongoing prevalence, is the primal reason for the existence within the human condition of the union between male and female. In civilised and primitive society we call this marriage. We have done so for centuries. And the grounding is in nature and of nature, bringing men and women together and drawing the roots of their togetherness from various combinations of sexual characteristics.

I accept the force of nature that is fundamental to marriage. I go further, and see it is unique in its embodiment of the second essential purpose in life – pro-creation. And finally I find in it the most precious and lasting part of my life and something I have personally lived in for the whole of that adult life.

No law, no willingness to help other people of the same sex who love each other and wish to declare and make permanent in law that love, by the making of new laws, can be achieved by redefining "marriage". Such an objective can be achieved in other ways, outside the re-defining of marriage. Moreover there are distinct and valid formulae for so doing, one example recognised being civil partnership. But they do not reach any kind of climax or reality under the term "marriage" which I believe is a unique and inviolable human condition that can only manifest itself in the union between a man and a woman.

I recommend that anybody who has not read the article should do so. One might not agree with everything in it, but it is very thought provoking.

Given how closely linked marriage and family are, if we change our definition and conception of marriage we also change our definition and conception of family. The conception of marriage and family protect the natural relatedness, natural kinship and natural ties between mothers, fathers and their children. Changing marriage removes this protection. The Children and Family Relationships Bill breaks the link between family and marriage. The proposed marriage referendum will further and irreparably undermine the link between marriage and the natural family.

It is not just the Irish Constitution that links marriage and family. Under the European Convention on Human Rights, the right to marry and the right to found a family are a compound right. Men and women have the right to marry and found a family through natural reproduction. This brings me back to the point about the lack of legal architecture and safeguards in the area of assisted reproduction. The Government is trying to pass the Children and Family Relationships Bill, which is a piecemeal measure that cobbles together a smokescreen of protection for children but which completely fails to regulate the area of assisted reproduction which will come under stress if same-sex marriage is introduced. For example, the Bill does not legislate for the use of surrogacy.These are the questions that Irish voters must ask themselves before they vote to introduce same-sex marriage into the country which has an inadequate system of laws governing assisted reproduction and could become a hub for commercialised assisted reproduction, given the absence of proper regulation in this area. We need clear and strict laws on assisted reproduction and surrogacy before even thinking about redefining marriage.

There are many definitions of marriage, but I would like to put one forward. What is marriage? Marriage unites a man and a woman with each other and any children born from that union. Other reasons for supporting the definition of marriage as being exclusively between a man and a woman is that marriage provides children with access to their genetic, cultural and social heritage. Marriage between men and women is the institution adult society uses to protect the rights of all children through affiliation with both parents. Same-sex marriage will further marginalise gendered language and gendered roles. We see that happening already, including in the Bill we discussed yesterday. Same-sex marriage creates an entitlement to the use of artificial reproductive technology. It also transforms marriage from a gender-based institution to a gender neutral institution within our Constitution. Man-woman marriage is an institution that attaches mothers and fathers to their children. Same-sex marriage transforms marriage into an institution that separates children from at least one of their parents. Same-sex marriage routinely places biological parents on the same legal footing with adults who have no genetic relationship to that child. Same-sex marriage eliminates the legal principle that biology is the primary means of establishing parental rights and responsibility. It also undermines the legal principle that children are entitled to a relationship with both parents.

Conscience has been mentioned in this House by a number of speakers. I note in recent days that the Tánaiste has signalled that the Government does not plan to have any protection or exemptions in place for people in businesses who do not agree with redefining marriage and who do not want to be forced to participate in or endorse same-sex marriage. Only religious ministers will be exempt from participating in same-sex marriages services. The Ashers bakery case is being decided this week by the High Court in Belfast. Surely that case should make the Government stop and think about the conscience implications of redefining marriage. Surely that case and myriad similar cases involving florists, bakers, wedding photographers and wedding location owners, many in the United States, but some here, should make Government take seriously the need for rigorous conscience protections in this legislation. Until such protections are in place, the Irish people will not be able to vote to change marriage.