Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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The clear position arising from case law in Ireland - and there is ample case law to this effect - is that marriage is understood as being between one man and one woman, ideally for life. The Government considers that it would be constitutionally unsound to legislate for marriage between same-sex couples in the absence of a constitutional amendment. On this basis, Government referred the issue of same-sex marriage to the Convention on the Constitution for consideration. The Convention also believed that amendment was necessary, and recommended that a constitutional referendum be held on the issue. Government has accepted the recommendation and intends to hold the necessary referendum in the first half of 2015.