Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am glad that the Government has said that it will repeal section 36 of the Defamation Act if the constitutional amendment is passed. That is appropriate. There should be no place in our law any more for blasphemy offences. We know from the history of blasphemy offences, which I will not rehearse again because we went through it in 2009, that they have typically been used by individual religions or members of a religion against others. They tend to be used not against non-religious people but rather to pursue religious ideological battles. There is no place in modern law for this sort of offence, in either our Constitution or in statute. The story about the actor Stephen Fry was picked up by the international media. It was an embarrassing moment and it highlighted the need to delete this outdated and obsolete section of our Constitution.

It is far from the case that believers are a persecuted minority in Ireland. Anyone with a passing knowledge of our school system will be well aware that 90% of our primary schools remain controlled by and under the governance of the Catholic Church and 95% are under some form of religious control. Yesterday, I raised in the Seanad the very current issue concerning a particular school in Greystones. It is a Church of Ireland school in which a linkage has been made between church attendance and school enrolment to the distress of many parents in that community. I will be raising the matter further with the Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton. We need a further debate on the separation of church and State in reality and practice in our education and healthcare systems. Senator Ó Ríordáin has also been raising this issue in the House.

I am sorry that we will not have the opportunity to modernise our Constitution in one other respect on 26 October with the deletion of the outdated and sexist reference to women's place in the home. I know that the Minister of State wanted to put that to a referendum and I am sorry that we will not have the opportunity to vote on that too. The delay is unfortunate. We have had decades of debate on the matter and, like the blasphemy provision, there have been many reports that have recommended deletion. The time was now to delete that article and to have the bigger debate that is also necessary about how we can recognise the very important role of carers and the very important rights and needs of those who are cared for as well. It is unfortunate that this referendum has been delayed and I hope it will happen early in the new year.

The Labour Party group in the Seanad is proud to support this Bill.