Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to present the Fortieth Amendment of the Constitution (Care) Bill 2023 to the House this evening. I thank those who will participate in today’s debate for their continued interest in this significant proposition, which will give the Irish people the opportunity to vote at last on removing the outdated language related to the woman’s role in the home from our Constitution. In its place, the Government proposes recognising the care provided by families to one another, thereby expressly enshrining care as a value within our Constitution. In this regard, the Government amendment comprises three main elements: it will remove the archaic reference to a woman’s life and a mother's duties within the home; it will recognise the immense value of the care and support which family members give to one another, which is a foundation for solidarity and cohesion within our society; and it will create an obligation – an onus - on the State to support those care relationships.

Much has been made in recent weeks of what this new clause in our Constitution will do. I have heard it described as “cosmetic”, “wishy-washy” and “merely symbolic”. Senators should please make no mistake. Every amendment to our Constitution is meaningful, in particular one which places an obligation on the State. This will have a very real meaning. Words matter, but symbols matter also. When Mary Robinson, a former Member of this House, was elected to the State’s highest office in 1990, she spoke about how symbols give us identity, helping us to explain ourselves to ourselves and to others. However, they do more than that. She said: “Symbols in turn determine the kinds of stories we tell and the stories we tell determine the kind of history we make and remake.” If passed, the proposed amendment will stand as a statement of our values in terms of equality and recognition of the valuable role that both women and men play in all spheres of public and private life.

The amendment proposed is not just symbolic. It will have real legal significance. It will be significant for people like Tracy Carroll, who I met last week when launching the Family Carers Ireland campaign for a “Yes” vote. Tracy said:

Caring for both my children is a labour of love, but it's also incredibly demanding. This referendum is a chance for Ireland to stand by families like mine, to ensure we are not left to struggle alone. A “Yes-Yes” vote is a vote for compassion and understanding of the realities we face every day. It will give us hope for a future where family carers are not just acknowledged but actively supported.

Significantly, this amendment will place an onus on the State, this Government and all future Governments for a progressive realisation of support for care within families, building out on existing supports where necessary.

I will turn to the specific wording and how this will be achieved. The proposed amendment would delete Article 41.2 in its entirety and insert a new Article 42B into the Constitution. The new Article 42B, if passed, will read:

The State recognises that the provision of care, by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them, gives to Society a support without which the common good cannot be achieved, and shall strive to support such provision.

The intention is to recognise unpaid care provided by immediate and extended family. In contrast to Article 41.2, the proposed new article involves recognition of a much broader form of care beyond the care of mothers for their children in the home. The proposed article also places an onus on the State to strive to support family care. Again, the language we are using is important, for example, “shall strive”, which puts a mandatory obligation on the State.

If the Government had not wanted to create an obligation on the State to support such care, there were other avenues available to it. The Government could have just brought forward a proposal to delete Article 41.2 in its entirety and not replace it with anything, and I know a similar proposal was brought forward a number of years ago. The Government is not proposing that. The new article recognising care could have been placed in Article 45, on the directive principles and social policy, which are non-justiciable. The Government is not proposing that avenue. The State could merely have recognised care within a revision of Article 41.2 without placing an obligation, but the State did not decide to go that route. Instead, amending the Constitution as proposed, the Government is clearly placing an onus on the State, this Government and future Governments for a progressive realisation of support for care within a family, again, building out on existing supports where necessary. The Government's intention is that the wording of the proposed article reflects a requirement for the State to make serious and sustained efforts to support family care.

It must be noted that the proposed amendment does not create an express constitutional entitlement to specific measures of support, such as grants or allowances. The Government and the Oireachtas retain the power to define both the types and levels of supports, and the criteria in respect of eligibility for those supports. This is deeply important in the context of the separation of powers, which is fundamental to the functioning of the State. It is the people who elect us to the Oireachtas and, in doing that, they choose where State resources should go.

The wording of the amendment has been developed carefully, with the assistance of the Attorney General, to ensure it supports that balance while also meeting the overall aim of the proposal to recognise the role played by the family in terms of the mutual support and care which is provided on an unpaid and voluntary basis, and that the State shall "strive to support” it. The word "strive" is relatively novel in the Constitution but it was also chosen carefully to reflect the intention of the Government in this proposed constitutional amendment.

In recent weeks, there has been some discussion on the scope and breadth of the new Article 42B and why care in the family is being recognised and not care in the wider community, as was proposed by the citizens' assembly. As we know, the family is the cornerstone of society because of the mutual care, strength and support that family members give to one another, care and support which is unconditional, often constant and often intensive. That care is fundamental in our society. It is the Government's position that it is right to recognise it as a public good and that we commit to the State supporting it. This is the care that families give to one another. It is unique. It is foundational. It is the essence of our humanity. It is core to nurturing our children and allowing each one of us to reach our full potential.

The work of people who provide care in the wider community is also hugely important to Irish society. Paid care workers and public and private care enterprises all provide important supports to unpaid carers. We believe it would represent an anomaly to identify and enshrine the rights of one cohort of workers and, potentially, their private sector employers and private commercial enterprises in the Constitution. That said, while paid workers do not fall directly within the scope of the amendment, support for family care currently often includes paid services, for example, personal assistance hours. This amendment expresses a strong commitment by the State to support a robust care infrastructure through supporting family care, wherever that care takes place. Through the express obligation on the State to support family care, there is a recognition of the importance of investing in that professional care system which wraps around and supports families.

This change has been spoken about for decades. I know that in our discussions, when we have discussed the issues of gender equality, many Senators have gone through the various domestic and international calls to make changes to Article 41.2 so it reflects the realities of today. Now we have the opportunity. Now we have the chance to change the language of Article 41.2, remove the outdated vision of the position of women within Irish society and clearly enshrine a value of care in our Constitution, a value that recognises that care is the job of men and women, mams and dads, sons and daughters. Importantly, it seeks to place a clear onus on the State that that care must be supported, an onus that will exist for this Government and for Governments going forward. I commend the Bill to the House.