Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

To be absolutely clear, I talked to a number of religious, cultural and ethnic groups and they support what I propose here. The reality is that this happens in private in the Circuit Court and the child has no representation. We do not allow children to make other contracts but we will allow them to make a contract of marriage. That is wrong. We cannot lecture other countries and say we understand our cultural differences and we are able to legislate because we know better in the western world.