We are discussing amendment No. 5a which seeks to delete the section of the Bill that would enable persons of 18 years or older to purchase contraceptives. Various arguments have been made in support of that amendment, and from those arguments it seems to me the Fianna Fáil position has changed. At Second Stage they argued very strongly that their opposition was political and that they did not take any position in regard to contraceptives per se. As far as they were concerned, people were entitled to use contraceptives if they saw fit. The opposition was political, because it was an opportune time to do down the Coalition and to create divisions in the Coalition.
Fianna Fáil changed that position this morning. All their arguments today have been that this section of the Bill will attack the traditional family here, that in some way it will undermine some glorious system of family life which existed and still exists in Ireland. No one in Fianna Fáil has attempted to define what he means by this marvellous family life which Fianna Fáil imagine existed or exists — some normal family life. I should like someone on the Fianna Fáil benches to define what they mean by normal family life. Tell us in detail what it means. What kind of values does it imply?
We can have a legitimate family in the eyes of the State when there has been a marriage, or we can have an illegitimate family in the eyes of the State, of which we have many — people who live together and have families outside marriage. One of the primary objectives must be to keep families together as families. It seems to me that Fianna Fáil bear a very heavy responsibility for having destroyed families here, virtually from the time they took power and during nearly the entire life of the State. We must consider that one million people who were born on this island are living in Britain. Is that not the destruction of Irish family life in a fundamental way? Is that not a breach of some kind of morality or other?
What Fianna Fáil seem to get hot about is sexuality. Everything seems to hinge on sexuality. So long as we ignore that sex takes place, whether inside or outside marriage, we do not have to concern ourselves thereafter. We must have laws that give the impression that a normal society exists, whatever that may be. I am at a loss to know what "a normal society" is, because there is so much variety. We talk about the average man or the average woman. There is no such thing as average or normal in those terms. Therefore, can somebody in Fianna Fáil explain precisely what is meant by traditional family life, and what criteria do they apply to establish what that is?
We all know how poverty impinges on family life. There is plenty of evidence of it in fiction and history. We know also how a narrow approach to sexuality has impinged on family life with, as the Minister has said, people ending up in asylums. There was some popularity recently for a TV play called "The Ballroom of Romance", which outlined clearly the kind of nod and wink about sexuality and the distortion of human relationships which we are led to believe existed and which we are told was the traditional way of family life in Ireland. Is that the kind of tradition we want to establish or to maintain?
We have been told that as a result of this Bill thousands of young people will gallop down the streets, presumably to the family planning clinics in Cathal Brugha Street or elsewhere, and load up with contraceptives. It strikes me as extremely odd that in an education system nearly totally controlled by the Roman Catholic Church there is so little confidence in the ability of that church to ensure that its ethos, views and morality will be transferred to the youth of the country. Recently I read a paper presented by a Christian Brother in 1983 on the importance of the church maintaining control of the educational system in order to transfer its values to succeeding generations. Are the people opposing the Bill arguing that the Catholic Church has failed? I do not believe it has. Unfortunately, I think that in certain respects it has succeeded too well. On sexual morality the question arises of whether the youth of Ireland will run riot buying and using contraceptives. That argument is too ridiculous to contemplate.
That young people do not come up to Deputy Wyse and me and ask "How about getting this Bill through?" does not mean that they are not concerned about the questions of family planning. I know for a fact that they are concerned. They see problems in their own families, with their friends, on the roads and streets, in the estates, about the availability of contraceptives to those who are sexually active — and will be sexually active whether there are contraceptives available or not — which would, at least, prevent the tragedy of unwanted pregnancies.
The suprious argument is made again that this section of the Bill is in some way legalising promiscuity. The comparison is made between muggings and sexual activity. This is a strange relationship of ideas. The idea that there is a relationship between the availability of contraceptives and sexual relationships does not stand. You might as well say that muggings were being legalised because you were legalising contraceptives. The logic of that argument is that to prevent burglaries you must outlaw screwdrivers, glass cutters, cars, that you must prevent the sale of petrol to people under 18 years and so on. It is ridiculous. It does not hold water and is an illogicality.
Many declarations have been made in this House about values, without those values being spelled out. There has been much talk about the sacredness of the family and the institution and tradition of family life, without defining what is meant. Those who are opposing this Bill will have to define what they are talking about when they say that they are speaking on behalf of the parents of this country. I am a parent of this country and I am not talking on my behalf. I am not talking on behalf of any of the parents to whom I have spoken within the past two weeks.
One individual deliberately approached me during the last two weeks, questioning me about this family planning legislation. He was a man close to 60 years of age, a carpenter. He said that what Fianna Fáil are saying is total nonsense. He could not understand it. He told me that in 1947 he was involved in the building trade in this city on the building sites and was then 17 years of age. He said that his workmates were going to Belfast, buying contraceptives there, bringing them back to Dublin and selling them to their workmates — in 1947. This debate is painful to listen to.
Finally this country is a signatory of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights ratified in 1969 when Fianna Fáil were in Government. Those rights include the right to choose the number and spacing of one's children and the right to safe and appropriate methods of contraception and women's health care services.
