Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)

I join previous speakers in welcoming the Finance Bill before us. I congratulate the various groups and individuals who have for many years campaigned for equal treatment and rights for gay and lesbian people living in this State.

It is clear, having listened to the debate thus far, that no Member will vote against this legislation. It will have the approval of all sides of the House, which in itself sends out an important message. Deputy Buttimer mentioned that there remains within our society people who are homophobic. That all 166 Members of this House support this legislation sends out a powerful message, one which must be strongly portrayed. There is no place in Irish society for homophobia. It is our responsibility to challenge and educate anyone who holds such views.

Sinn Féin has always supported socially progressive legislation and will support this Bill. We would like to see further legislation on issues such as civil marriage and transgender recognition brought before the House. These issues need to be progressed at the earliest possible opportunity. This is in keeping with the spirit, ideology and practice of Republicanism in terms of promoting equality among all citizens.

I commend a number of provisions in the Bill which will progress the rights of civil partners, giving them the same rights as married opposite sex couples in terms of taxation. Like most enlightened and progressive legislation, it is to be welcomed but it is not before its time. People have been waiting a long time for this legislation. Finally, it is before us, which is a reflection on society in general. We are maturing, which is good. This Bill provides that people in civil partnerships can now be jointly assessed for income tax and will not be liable for inheritance tax and so on. The security and certainty many of us have taken for granted are now being extended to civil partners. Same sex couples who have registered or are planning to register their civil partnerships will also be covered by this legislation.

We need to address the issue of citizenship applications for civil partnerships. An applicant involved in a relationship with an Irish citizen should be recognised on the same basis as an applicant who is married to an Irish citizen. This issue requires further debate. To that end, I call on the Minister for Justice and Equality to follow through on his promise to amend the legislation in that regard. Also, I hope he will ensure that the proposed immigration legislation will introduce parity between same sex couples and married couples.

A much needed and welcome aspect of the Bill is that which relates to the children of civil partners, as mentioned by the previous speaker. This Bill puts them on the same footing as children of a married couple from a taxation point of view. Up to now children of same sex couples did not qualify for the same inheritance rights as did children of a married couple. This compounded the loss, with serious financial implications. I welcome this provision. The inclusion of children of civil partners in this Bill was brought about by the increasing number of children being parented by same sex couples, which in itself highlights the need to begin the process which will eventually lead to same sex couples being allowed to adopt children. We should actively work towards that. Sinn Féin believes that decisions regarding adoption must always be made on the basis of love, care and environment. They are the standards by which we should judge any adoption. A decision should never be based on whether a couple wishing to adopt is of the same sex.

If we are truly to live up to the Republican ideals which many people in this House from all sides have down through the years claimed to aspire to, then we need to ensure there is equity in all aspects of society and adoption is one such aspect. Sinn Féin has actively supported all legislation based on regularising the legal framework for same sex couples, including the CivilPartnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 and the rights of cohabiting couples and will continue to do so. Our only difficulty is that we have not progressed as much as we need to in terms of civil marriage and same sex adoptions.

I welcome the Bill. It is not often that a finance Bill receives unanimous support in this House, which in itself sends out a message. There is a certain irony in that it has taken an issue such as this to bring us all together to support a finance Bill. It will be a long time before another finance Bill receives the unanimous support of this House. I look forward to progressing to next step of this journey.

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