Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tairgim leasú a 7:

I leathanach 7, idir línte 3 agus 4, an méid seo a leanas a chur isteach:“5 Ní cead alt 4 den Airteagal seo a agairt chun oibriú Airteagail 42 nó 44 nó na saoirsí agus na cearta a admhaítear sna hAirteagail sin a thoirmeasc nó a rialú nó a bhac.”.

I move amendment No. 7:

In page 6, after line 6, to insert the following:“5 Section 4 of this Article shall not be invoked to prohibit, control, or interfere with the operation of Articles 42 or 44 or the freedoms and rights recognised in those Articles.”.

Amendment No. 7 provides that section 4 of this Article shall not be invoked to prohibit, control or interfere with the operation of Article 2 or Article 44 or the freedoms and rights recognised in those articles.Much that is very uninformed has been said about the issues that arise in terms of freedom of conscience when it comes to the provision of various services by people who have a sincere view, which may be political or religious, about the importance of marriage between men and women as being fundamental in our society from the point of view of securing as far as possible the best interests of children. Sometimes issues arise whereby people find themselves unable to act in conscience in accordance with what they are asked to do.

In recent days Senator Byrne sought to draw a distinction with regard to the controversy involving Ashers bakery in Belfast, which is run by people who have a Christian commitment to the importance of marriage. I am not concerned as to whether they are religiously motivated or otherwise. They were asked to produce a cake which would have a political message supporting gay marriage on the icing. They refused to do so and are now being prosecuted by the equality people in the North. There is considerable disquiet among many people about the intolerance which underlies such a possibility. We must ask whether anything we are doing here in redefining marriage in the Constitution could have a knock-on effect whereby this kind of spectre would raise its head.

In recent days in Drogheda a printing company declined to print a menu for a civil partnership event, as the people involved felt it would draw them into publicly supporting something with which they did not actually agree. I regard myself as a pragmatic person; if I were in their situation I would not necessarily be bothered, but that is not what tolerance is about. Tolerance is not about facilitating only those people whose point one actually sees. Tolerance is about facilitating the point of view of the person whose views one might actually despise. It is really important that we consider the operation of anti-discrimination laws, which are in themselves good but which may have unforeseen and perhaps undesired consequences if we do not seek to balance them in some way so as to protect people's right to live in accordance with their convictions.

The articles I seek to protect from any unforeseen interference with their operation by virtue of this proposed change should the referendum pass are articles which protect freedom of religion and religious-run institutions but also protect the rights of parents as educators. I seek simply to ensure nothing changes in the operation of these articles, and it is a very conservative amendment in this sense as I do not seek to create any new rights in the Constitution. I want to ensure that nothing changes merely by virtue of this referendum. This is a respectful approach to take.

We have not had a debate about how things might change if the referendum is passed. We have not had a debate about what will be tolerated in schools. Take, for example, a school where a teacher wishes to teach about love, care and respect for people's private lives and, because of the school's ethos, the teacher's personal conviction or just his or her desire to teach what he or she believes to be true, that - all things considered - a child deserves to have a father and a mother and this is what we should try to promote as a society. Will anything in the proposed constitutional change be invoked to prevent any future vindication of this teacher's right to teach what he or she truly believes to be true, what the employing organisation truly believes to be true and what many of the parents who send their children to that school truly believe to be true? All I am saying in the amendment is that nothing should change, and this is the only responsible thing to say considering the Minister has not told us what will change. She has not told us that nothing will change as a result of the amendment with regard to what goes on in schools and education. If she thinks anything will change, she has not told us what may change. If the Minister is sincere, as the Government and supporters of the amendment keep saying, that this is only about recognising love and relationships between two adults of the same sex and nothing more than this, she should not be afraid to accept the amendment.

There remains a problem with the amendments that have been ruled out of order, which is not in the best interests of the Minister or the Government, as she has just created an important political controversy about the amendment. Not only am I prevented from seeking to vindicate the right of a child to a father and mother as far as practicable within the context of a new definition of marriage, but the Minister is prevented from giving the necessary reassurances that this is not necessary. If the Government has the courage to debate this issue directly with opponents of the referendum in the weeks ahead, I hope the Minister will have a better answer than I have received so far. It will not go down very well with the Irish people to say we will not discuss the question of whether the amendment will impact on a child's right to a father and a mother because the Seanad ruled it out of order after a recommendation from the Bills Office which went through the Seanad Office and on which the Leas-Cathaoirleach ruled. It will not sound very good to the people of Ireland that the debate has been curtailed to this extent. There is a serious question to be asked about whether the proposed amendment has an impact on the rights of educators. Could somebody lose his or her job? Would people move a step closer to losing their job if the constitutional amendment passes without the insertion of the clause I propose?

To return to the providers of services, people here may not sympathise with those who have a conscientious objection. This issue was ventilated to some extent during the civil partnership legislation debate, which was disgracefully handled because the whole thing was guillotined to facilitate the Green Party having a press conference on the Friday so its members could tell the public how great they were in introducing civil partnership, and full and thorough debate in Leinster House of the issues was of much less priority for the then Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government, unfortunately.