Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will never disrespect anybody's lived experience. I will not do that. However, I hear women from the Government side who seek to evoke women's experiences in the Magdalen laundries or mother and baby homes. What did they do to help those women all those months ago when they were emailing in their thousands about problems with the still undelivered redress scheme? They did nothing; absolutely nothing. They were silent when the chips were down, but those women are useful to them now again when they use their names in vain for their own purposes during this debate. They know in their hearts and souls that those women's experience did not come from the Constitution nor were they prescribed by it.

The family enjoys special status within the Constitution, but what discrimination does a child in an unmarried family face now? We are trying this afternoon to fix attitudes from the bad old days that no longer exist in 2024. My only problem is with the phrase "durable relationships". Marriage is a legal document. What happens when durable relationships end? There is no legal document. If non-married couples break up, will they need to pay maintenance for members of their durable relationship even if they are not biologically related? Is this possible? The problem is that we do not know.

I have a family. I might be divorced, but I still consider my family to be called a family, just like Senator McGreehan, who is not married, and, indeed, Senator Ruane. They consider their families to be a family unit. We should be strengthening that family unit. We should be supporting people who are on their own and giving them more supports. Maybe if we did, we would not have the mental health issues this country is facing with its children and teenagers today. For me, therefore, the issue is durable relationships. We do not know what it is. The Judiciary does not know what it is. Before it leave these gates, we should know what that phrase means. Unfortunately, this amendment to the Constitution does not define that and for me it is a big "No".