Opposition claims that unnecessarily negative signals would be sent out to unmarried fathers by not requiring the mothers of their children to justify refusals of consent to guardianship were rejected by Government members.
Attempts to amend the Children's Bill were unsuccessful, and the measure was passed by the House.
A Fine Gael amendment sought to empower a court to grant guardianship to the natural father if it found that the mother was withholding consent unreasonably.
Mr John Connor (FG) said the law should not give a superior right to the mother.
A proposed amendment by Mr David Norris (Ind) would have authorised a court to appoint a father guardian unless there were compelling reasons affecting the child's best interests for not doing so.
Labour also tabled an amendment to have guardianship given to fathers except where compelling reasons to the contrary were shown.
Mr Feargal Quinn (Ind) said he had been jolted by the fact that while around 12,000 children had been born outside wedlock last year, only 700 unmarried fathers had applied for guardianship. Efforts should be made to increase the number of applications.
If an unmarried father accepted his obligations in regard to his child, he should be entitled to guardianship automatically. Mr Quinn said he welcomed the provision in the Bill giving a father guardianship without having to go to court, but he noted that this could happen only with the mother's agreement.
Ms Kathleen O'Meara (Lab) maintained there should be a presumption in favour of joint guardianship. They should be careful not to send out the wrong signal by the legislation. In the past there had been a tendency for unmarried fathers to walk away from their responsibility to the mothers of their children. The State had rightly given support to single mothers, but more and more single fathers were coming around to taking their responsibilities seriously. That should be encouraged.
Mr Denis O'Donovan (FF) said it was significant that only 6 per cent of natural fathers were owning up in this day and age. Mothers went through the trauma of pregnancy and birth. It would be wrong to place the onus on them to prove the unsuitability of the natural father for guardianship.
Mr Liam Fitzgerald (FF) warned that the proposed amendments would send out a strong signal to irresponsible fathers that they had a right to automatic guardianship unless this could be rebutted by their partners. That would be a dangerous step, especially in the drug-ridden society we had.
The Minister of State for Justice, Ms Mary Wallace, said there seemed to be a common belief that unmarried fathers seeking guardianship were being discriminated against, but that was not the case. Ninety per cent of applications were successful, including cases where mothers objected. The amendments would create a presumption in favour of the unmarried father irrespective of the relationship that existed between him and the mother of the child.
Taking issue with the Minister's arguments, Mr Norris pointed out that a court would still have the last say if the Bill was amended in the way he and others wanted. Was the Minister really suggesting that there were 11,300 grossly irresponsible fathers on an annual basis? That was an extremely shocking assertion of heterosexual immaturity. He would like to send a signal to single fathers that they were expected to be responsible.