Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to take a couple of minutes, if I may. I want to make a few quick remarks. I probably would have covered them on Second Stage. It is appropriate, given that we are speaking about important legislation.

We live in a culture that seems dismissive of long-term commitment. To say that marriage is a social good or that it should be for life has become almost taboo. There are various reasons for this. For a long time, the idea that the State should recognise an institution such as marriage has been viewed by some as restrictive of their freedom and judgmental of their choices. This might be called the libertarian critique of marriage. Then came feminism with all that is legitimate and necessary in its analysis and all that was reactive and destructive in elements of it. The perception of marriage as an institution that in the past was restrictive of women's choices, well-being and economic independence caused many to desire its overthrow. Then came what we might call the affirming culture, one in which it is seen as necessary to affirm all choices equally.