SEANAD REPORT:THE INDEPENDENCE of tribunals should be sacrosanct as far as politicians were concerned, Seanad leader Donie Cassidy said. There was no point in parliamentarians giving a job to professionals and then interfering in it.
He said he fully respected the position of the tribunals and the professionals who had been appointed. It should be remembered that the Taoiseach had led the way in setting up the tribunals to put in place all the corrective measures that were necessary.
Mr Cassidy had been asked by Frances Fitzgerald, Fine Gael leader in the House, to clarify his views about the Mahon tribunal. She said The Irish Times had yesterday reported Government Senators' comments about the tribunal lacking due process. Mr Cassidy had seemed, implicitly, to support what had been said.
Ms Fitzgerald said the Dáil had recently voted confidence in the tribunal. "I think that Government Senators taking pot shots like this at the tribunal in here, especially making a most serious charge about the lack of due process, is very serious".
Cathaoirleach Pat Moylan intervened "to put on the record" that the chair always endeavoured to ensure that the House respected the independence of the tribunals.
If marriage allowances and inheritance tax provisions available to heterosexual couples were extended to civil partnerships for gay couples, it would abrogate the responsibility to uphold the Constitution in regard to the protection of marriage, Jim Walsh (FF) said.
Mr Walsh was speaking after Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan told the House that the scheme of a Civil Partnership Bill would be brought forward by the end of next month.
The Minister was speaking in the debate on a motion from independent members David Norris, Ivana Bacik and Joe O'Toole urging the Government to introduce full equality under the law for gay citizens of Ireland, including access to civil marriage.
A Government amendment, carried by 26 votes to 22, asked the House to support the proposals for civil partnership.
In reply to Mr Walsh, David Norris said: "Darling, I pay taxes, too. If they exempted fairies from paying tax I would almost forget about the marriage bit. Okay, get rid of income tax for gay people and you're on. But until you do that, Senator Walsh, I am not taking any guff from you."