Sean O’Rourke on his show today (23/1) put it to Leo Varadkar that he has previously stated that children have a right to a mother and a father. The Minister said he was quoted out of context. That is not the case.

The Minister made the comment while in opposition during a Dail debate on the Civil Partnerships Bill in 2010. Here is the relevant passage (italics added):

“The question of adoption is ignored in this Bill because it is contentious. Sooner or later, it will have to be addressed. Every child has a father and a mother. Two men or two women cannot have a child together. A single person cannot have a child on their own unless they procure the pre-products of conception from an alternative source. This is an undeniable fact. [412] Unfortunately, sometimes in children’s lives one of the parents is not interested in them or dies. Where a child is an orphan, the State should replace their mother and father. Every child has the right to a mother and father and, as much as is possible, the State should vindicate that right. That is a much more important right than that of two men or women having a family. That is the principle that should underline our laws regarding children and adoption. I am also uncomfortable about adoption by single people regardless of their sexual orientation. I do not believe I as a single man should adopt a child. The child should go to parents, a mother and father, to replace what the child had before.

“There are exceptions to every rule and difficult cases. There may be a case of where a man previously had a child from a heterosexual marriage, the mother is off the scene and he and his gay partner have now entered a civil partnership. That type of relationship will have to be recognised. A similar situation may arise in respect of a lesbian woman who may have had a child for various reasons, later became involved in a same sex relationship which became a civil partnership and died and the only person the child knows as a parent is the other woman to whom he or she is not related by blood. That is an exception. These issues will have to be addressed. It is our duty as a Legislature and that of Government to address them. I do not know what is the solution. It may be for the Adoption Board to determine particular exceptional cases like that while upholding the principle that every child has a mother and father and is entitled inasmuch as possible to same.”

(Here is a link to the Dail debate in full)

If Leo Varadkar now disagrees with what he said, let him say it and be made to give his reasons.

He might well say something to the effect that we must face the reality that children are being raised in many different situations including by gay couples.

But he covers this in the quote above. He allows for exceptions but still wants the general principle upheld that the State should vindicate the right of a child to a mother and a father.

Hopefully other journalists will follow Sean O’Rourke’s lead and grill him on what he had to say in 2010.