Leo: Not all will be able to claim they’re a family
One million people affected if public votes Yes
PEOPLE will not just be able to “rock down to the courts” and claim to be a family if the definition changes after the referendum, the Taoiseach said.
As he launched Fine Gael’s “Yes Yes” campaign, Leo Varadkar said one million people would be affected if the proposed constitution changes. Two votes will be held on March 8. The first, referred to as the Family Amendment, will ask people to expand the definition of a family to include those in “durable relationships”.
Secondly, the “Care Amendment” would remove the “a woman’s place in the home” clause.
The addition of a new clause would mean the State “shall strive to support” the provision of care “by members of a family to one another by reason of the bonds that exist among them”.
Mr Varadkar said: “We looked at other terms [such as] committed and intimate.
“No matter what word you pick, there are upsides and downsides.
“What is it intended to apply to?
“Those [one] million people in families that are led by a grandparent, led by a guardian, led by a lone parent, perhaps cohabiting couples living together for a long time.
“That’s what it’s intended to mean.
“When it comes to anything in the Constitution, it can be further defined by law, by the Oireachtas.
“To [an] extent that’s the case
No matter what word you pick there are upsides & downsides LEO VARADKAR YESTERDAY
already. One-parent families are recognised in social welfare law and tax law, for example.
“Ultimately there can be a decision by the courts and that is the case with anything you put in the Constitution.
“Ultimately, the Supreme Court can interpret it.
“Nobody is going to be able to rock down to the courts and say that makes them a family.
“There are other tests that are there set out in the Constitution already that a family must be the natural and primary fundamental unit group of society, that it must be a moral institution.”