Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I dtús báire, molaim an Bille seo agus glacaim mo bhuíochas agus mo comhghairdeas don Rialtas as an mBille seo a chur ar Chlár na Dála. Today is an important day as the Bill under discussion is important. It represents the culmination of many years of advocacy and campaigning and at the outset, I acknowledge and welcome the members of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, GLEN, who are in the Visitors' Gallery and who have been pioneers in the elimination of discrimination in our society. I thank each man and woman in GLEN for the work he or she has done. Last year the Houses of the Oireachtas passed the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights of Cohabitants Act 2010. It heralded a new beginning and new era for our nation and its citizens. It proclaimed an Ireland that was proud and ambitious for the nation and for the people. As Deputy Doherty said, it was very good to be a legislator and, in no small way, it showed the importance of being a Member of this august House. No longer can we nor should we ignore the relationships of so many citizens, be they gay or heterosexual. We can never stigmatise or allow a stigma to be attached to any member of our society. The passing of this Bill and last year's Bill will portray a genuinely inclusive Ireland, a country where all its political parties signed up to and voted for the Bill. I hope there will not be a division on this Bill.

The Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, was correct in his presentation of this Bill as stand-alone legislation. It is too important to be an attachment or an addendum to other legislation. I welcome the fact the Bill will be retrospective in its treatment of people who registered in April for civil partnerships. As Deputy Catherine Murphy noted, did we ever think it would be thus in 2011 with the human outpouring of joy, pride and love, not just in the celebration of civil unions but in the ending of discrimination and the ending of the treatment of people as second class citizens? This was a joy to behold.

I had the pleasure of attending a civil partnership ceremony. It was memorable and personal, human and joyful. That day, a person congratulated me and my fellow politicians on passing the Bill. This demonstrated to me the power of politics to change lives. As politicians we can change lives and we can make a difference in order that people are treated better. I congratulate and wish all those in civil unions the very best.

This Bill underlines the theme of equal or same treatment. When passed and signed into law, this Bill will bestow equal treatment for and will effect change in the lives of thousands of our fellow citizens. That change will not be at the periphery of life but at its heart and at the core of human relationships. This equality will not be a distant image or aspiration but will be a bright and shining star in the lives of couples, be they same sex or opposite sex, and it will make an immeasurable difference to their lives.

This Bill is important. It proposes to regularise the tax system and it is enabling legislation to change existing tax legislation. However, it is all of this and also so much more. It is a declaration of progression and a statement of intent. The press statement from GLEN states: "It provides important certainty and security for the many same-sex couples who have registered or are planning to register their civil partnerships."

This Bill will give real and practical effect to the civil partnership legislation. I welcome the swift passage and publication of the Bill. It is not just a technical Bill, nor is it a complex financial Bill but one which allows civil partners to receive the same tax treatment as married couples. Neither is it just about the important elements of income tax, capital acquisitions tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. This Bill is about the lives of people and about the way people are treated by the State, be they men or women, gay or straight. It is about the advancement of all our citizens, men, women and children. The passing of this Bill will properly and correctly give effect to the taxation aspects of the civil partnership Act of 2010. It is a statement that this Government is continuing the work of the previous Government. Deputy Kelleher might note I have given the previous Government some elements of praise.

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