Green Party says proposals to enshrine Children's Rights in Constitution must proceed

Press Release: Justice 24 January 2006

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Dún Laoghaire, Environment and Justice Press Releases

24 January 2006

Green Party says proposals to enshrine
Children’s Rights in Constitution must proceed

Calls for all cohabiting couples to be treated equally

The Green Party has said that the main recommendations of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution must proceed without delay. The Party says that the Government should now hold a referendum to recognise the rights of children in the constitution. However, it has said the proposals in the area of same-sex relationships do not go far enough to provide equality to same-sex cohabiting couples.

In its Tenth Progress Report on the Family, the Committee has recommended that heterosexual couples should be provided for either by civil partnership or through a presumptive scheme, while same-sex couples can only receive recognition through civil partnership legislation.

Speaking ahead of the launch of the Committee’s Report on Family Rights later today, Ciarán Cuffe TD the Green Party’s representative on the Committee said: “It is wholly unacceptable that the Committee should discriminate against same-sex couples.

“In 2004 the Law Reform Commission proposed that all intimate unmarried partnerships should be presumed to have formed a civil union after two years where there are children and three where there are no children involved. This is the approach that the Government should adopt. We must have equivalence for all committed couples before the law, regardless of sexual orientation.

The Green Party also favours the Minority Proposal on page 129 of the report that a referendum be held on a Constitutional amendment to recognise and respect family life not based on marriage.

“One third of all births in the State are outside of marriage. New forms of family life not based on marriage deserve respect, and recognition in our Constitution. Let us ensure that this report is acted on, and that unlike the previous report on Property Rights, it does not gather dust,” concluded Deputy Cuffe.

Ciarán Cuffe is a TD for the Dún Laoghaire Dáil Constituency. Ciarán can be contacted at Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 or 96 Patrick Street, Dún Laoghaire Tel. 284 6060 or 618 3082, Fax 618 4341, Email Ciaran CiaranCuffe.com, or Text Ciaran on 087 265 2075.