Gay rights groups condemn Oireachtas report
Gay rights campaigners tonight hit-out at a cross party Oireachtas report on the family claiming it had missed the opportunity to push for equal rights for same-sex and heterosexual couples.
The cross party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution recommended that civil partnership laws be enacted for same-sex couples.
But it stopped short of calling for presumptive rules, which would afford gay and lesbian couples the same rights as straight couples.
A bill providing for civil partnerships has been laid before the Seanad by Senator David Norris which it is hoped will allow for equal succession, maintenance and taxation rights.
The gay rights campaigner said: “I think the Government should run with it (the Bill). They have procrastinated long enough.
“We are in a ridiculous situation now that gay couples now have more rights in Paisley’s Belfast than they do in Bertie’s Dublin.”
Senator Norris said he believed there was strong support among his colleagues for legislative changes.
The Republic now lags behind the North in providing equal rights for same-sex couples.
Since December 2005 gay and lesbian couples have been able to register their partnerships in Northern Ireland under the Civil Partnership Act which provides same-sex couples with similar legal rights to married couples.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network claimed the report was confused.
“This will result in a huge divide being created in Irish society, between families protected by the Constitution and those with limited or no protection,” said Keith O’Malley, GLEN chief executive.
He noted that if the report’s recommendations were followed unmarried heterosexual couples, lone parents and lesbian and gay couples would not have specific constitutional protection for their family life.
Mr O’Malley accused the Committee of trying to widen inequality and foster discrimination through the recommendations.
“Another worrying aspect is that instead of seeking to bridge the equality gap that exists in Ireland between heterosexual couples and homosexual couples the Committee is proposing that the gap be further widened by recommending that same sex couples be excluded from any presumptive scheme introduced,” he said.
“For some unexplained reason they suggest that lesbian and gay couples should not be afforded protection under such a scheme as proposed by the Law Reform Commission.”
But GLEN said it welcomed the recommendation that civil partnership should be provided for same sex couples in order to resolve many problems such as parenting, rights of children growing up in same sex parented families, immigration/residency, financial and next of kin matters.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell has announced that a working group will be set up to look at the various options in relation to civil partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.
But Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has already ruled out a referendum to change the Constitution to legalise gay marriage saying it would not be passed by voters.
Mr Ahern said the Government was prepared to change legislation to ensure that gay couples could inherit property and pension rights from each other and qualify for tax entitlements enjoyed by married people.
The chief executive of the Equality Authority, Niall Crowley, added his voice to the debate claiming that failings in Ireland’s laws must be rectified to ensure gays, lesbians and transsexuals have the same rights they would in Northern Ireland.
