Ray Butler (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We live in a changing society that in the relatively recent past has become more diverse in its range of family formations.It is important that we reflect this in our laws and how we recognise family units. The Bill will resolve several difficulties in the registration of donor-assisted births and will be progressed as a priority. The main proposal in this Bill is to provide for registration of donor-assisted births and to make it possible for both partners in a female same-sex relationship to be registered as parents. I am delighted that the Minister is moving this matter quickly towards debate and legislation. It is a very sensitive issue and of great importance to the affected families. In common with many others here in this Chamber, I have met and spoken to many affected by this issue and I am very pleased that the Minister is bringing these changes forward as a priority to ensure that they can be introduced as soon as possible.

The Bill includes other amendments to civil registration previously agreed by the Government, including provisions that allow a mother to more easily rebut presumption of paternity of her estranged husband in registering a birth, to provide a role for a next of kin to register a death in cases involving a coroner, to allow the General Register Office, GRO, to share historical records with the National Library and National Archives and to allow the Central Statistics Office, CSO, to comply with EU regulations concerning data collected in death registrations.

I thank the Minister for all the work she has done. We owe it to the people who have been waiting for this Bill and we want them to live in our society, to be cherished in our society and to let them move on with their lives.