Seanad debates

Thursday, 8 December 2016

10:30 am

Photo of Ivana BacikIvana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader to amend the Order of Business to introduce a new Bill which I drafted, along with my Labour Party colleagues, the Pensions (Equal Pension Treatment in Occupational Benefit Scheme) (Amendment) Bill 2016. I know my colleague, Senator Norris, will be seconding it. The Bill aims to do the same thing that Senator Norris's proposed amendment to the Finance Bill sought to do yesterday, which is to address an ongoing discrimination against LGBT employees in pension schemes which required that they be married or enter into civil partnership before a specific date in order for their partners to qualify for survivor's benefit. This arises out of a case taken by David Parris against Trinity College Dublin which is before the European Court of Justice. Just a week ago, Mr. Parris unfortunately lost the case but there is nothing in European law to stop us introducing in our own domestic law a provision to ensure people will not be discriminated against just because they could not enter a legal marriage before a particular date.

This is an ongoing discrimination. Even after the great result in the marriage equality referendum in 2015, we still see people who, like Mr. Parris, could not have entered a legal marriage or a civil partnership before the necessary date, in his case, the date of his 60th birthday, in order to achieve certain benefits and entitlements under the occupational pensions scheme. This Bill would only affect a small number of people but it will address a very serious continuing issue of discrimination for those people. As I said, Senator Norris sought to address this by way of amendment to the Finance Bill. This is an alternative way to address it, namely, by introducing a Bill which will amend the pensions legislation to ensure people in Mr. Parris's position do not suffer ongoing discrimination.This is in tandem with the Bill that Senator Nash introduced this week to resolve the problem of individuals having offences on their record for acts that were decriminalised in 1993, after the decriminalisation of homosexuality. People are still suffering a chilling effect. This has been a huge issue in Britain and Senator Nash has called for an amnesty or pardon for those people to have their convictions effectively struck from the record given that the intercourse was no longer criminalised after 1993.

Can the Leader organise a debate on judicial appointments in light of the comments-----

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