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Senator Queries Minister on Cost of Civil Partnerships A senator who opposed the Civil Partnership Bill has sought information on what the implementation of its provisions will cost. Some estimates have put the cost at €73 million annually in three to five years time. Senator John Hanafin (FF) called on the Minister for Justice to provide a schedule showing the cost, pointing out that it was unusual that this had not been done during the debate on the Bill. Given that there had been an indication in the Dáil that it would cost €1 million per thousand couples, he wanted to know if it was the case that the minimum cost would be €73 million per annum in the near future? Senator Rónán Mullen (Ind) said it used to be the proud claim of the Leader of the House that debate on the details of legislation was never guillotined. Last week, he noted, for political as opposed to exceptional reasons, that good practice had been jettisoned on a fairly flimsy pretext in the civil partnership debate. He wondered why the Green Party senators had known of the foreshortening of the debate before other senators. Senator Mullen said the issue should be thrashed out in the House. He had tabled a motion aimed at achieving this. The Irish Times. July 14. Family and Life |
