Seanad debates

Monday, 30 March 2015

Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015: Report and Final Stages

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Trevor Ó ClochartaighTrevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 71:



In page 43, to delete lines 14 to 18 and substitute the following:“6B.(1) A man who is, under section 5(1)(b) of the Act of 2015, the parent of the child, shall be a guardian of the child.”.
I think I know the answer to the amendment but I will move it anyway. We are pushing further here than Senator Power. I agree with the sentiment of what Senator Power said in that we were looking for an almost automatic presumption of the father being the guardian. We believe all fathers should be granted automatic guardianship at the moment of birth. As I said previously, in some cases, cohabitation is not possible as sometimes mothers are still living with their parents and it is not always appropriate or possible for the fathers to live there also. That is often the case with teenage or unplanned pregnancies but it does not always mean the father is, in any way, shirking responsibilities or not stepping up to the plate. The circumstances are not in his favour. I mention the case of fathers who are working away from home, perhaps abroad, who simply are not in a financial position to support the child. Our amendments seek to go further than Senator Power's but I have a good sense of the answer we will get.

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