Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I assure Senator David Norris that I have no interest in poking my nose into other people's lives. What two men do in their own house or, for that matter, two women or a man and a woman is of no concern of mine and I do not believe it should be. The reason I support this amendment - I take it that "legally married" means marriage as we understand it, not what it might be following the referendum - is I am interested in ensuring the best interests of a child are preserved by having a father and a mother. There is a plethora of social research in this area, none of which was conducted in this country and all of which clearly illustrates that children do better in general in a range of areas, some of which surprised me, with a married couple than in all other diverse family types. That does not mean, however, that there are no other types of family in which children are quite happy and getting on well.We must operate on the basis of where there is the least risk to a child in a range of areas, including education. In that regard, all of the risks to which children are exposed are better dealt with if their parents are married. It is for this reason that I support the amendment. I have continually outlined my views on this matter for a decade or perhaps longer and do not believe I need to labour the point further.