There is “absolutely no complacency” about the outcome of the upcoming referendums on family and care in the wake of an opinion poll showing clear majorities for Yes votes on both issues, Minister for Equality Roderic O’Gorman has said.
He was speaking at the launch of the Green Party’s “Yes-Yes” campaign for the referendums, which will take place on March 8th.
The latest Irish Times/Ipsos B&A poll saw 52 per cent of respondents say they would vote Yes in the family referendum. Some 59 per cent said they would vote Yes in the care referendum.
Mr O’Gorman said this was a “strong lead” but added: “I always think it’s important to say there’s absolutely no complacency and that’s why the Green Party ... is setting out a strong national campaign.”
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Senator Pauline O’Reilly – who is leading her party’s efforts to secure Yes votes – said more than 110 candidates will be canvassing for the local elections and referendums simultaneously.
“You will see quite a significant campaign by Green Party members because it is very close to our values,” she said.
The Irish Times poll also showed that 53 per cent of respondents knew “hardly anything” about the referendums.
Asked if he was concerned this would bolster the No side, party leader Eamon Ryan said: “I think we need to use this next month to really have a debate in our country.”
He added: “A month is a long time in politics. It does require the political parties to get out and make the case ... I think what’s really important is we do get people out to vote Yes-Yes.”
[ Pat Leahy: 53% of voters know ‘hardly anything’ about March 8th referendumsOpens in new window ]
Mr O’Gorman said that the central argument of the Green Party, the Government and the Yes side is that the values currently set out in Article 41 of the Constitution “don’t meet our values as a nation”.
He said it “excludes tens of thousands of families from ... the protection of being recognised as a family because they’re not a marital family” and “sets out a very limited role for women in terms of a woman’s life in the home”.
He said the care referendum proposal is to delete the “outdated language about a woman’s life within the home” and replace it with a new article that recognises care within the family.
Some critics of the wording have argued that care outside the home should also be recognised and that the new provision does not place enough of an obligation on the State to support care.
Mr O’Gorman argued that the proposed change does place a new obligation on the State to support care within families through new wording that says the State “shall strive to support such provision”.
He said this would have to be factored into budget and Cabinet decisions.
Elsewhere, Fine Gael Minister Simon Harris expressed confidence the very substantial number of “don’t knows” in The Irish Times poll – 27 per cent for the family referendum and 23 per cent for care – will greatly reduce over the coming weeks.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education said he was not taking anything for granted in relation to the likely result but that he regarded the poll’s results so far as pointing in the right direction.
Mr Harris said he was encouraged by the figures in the poll showing majorities for Yes votes but added: “I’m also in politics long enough to know that the closer you get to a referendum, that’s more likely when people start to give the issues consideration.
“People are really busy; busy going about their own lives when a referendum is still a number of weeks [away], but people will probably sit down and give it more consideration [as it gets closer].”
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