Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank all the Deputies who so warmly supported the Bill. Earlier I acknowledged the contribution of the Seanad on this Bill, specifically the work done by my colleague in the Seanad, Senator Ivana Bacik. I was glad to ask the Government to introduce the Bill in the Oireachtas to permit solemnisation of weddings by the Humanist Association of Ireland.

I agree with Deputy Stagg that sometimes the best can be the enemy of the good. In the Seanad, Senator Cullinane supported the Bill very strongly but in telling us about the organisations that are religious, I point out that on the list of religions catered for already in Ireland when it comes to solemnising weddings is the Pagan Society of Ireland. A joke went around the Dáil yesterday about objections from Atheist Ireland, which wanted a definition of philosophical and non-confessional. It was said that would appeal to Sinn Féin because the leader, Deputy Adams, was seriously opposed to confession and has never been in the business of confessing anything and will not change now.

This legislation reflects developments in wider Irish society. The only regret I have about this Bill is it does not allow the celebration, either by religious or humanists, of the marriage of two people of the same sex. We had a successful development of civil partnerships and in the years since that legislation passed, that has proven valuable, bringing much joy to many same-sex couples. We should note, however, the legislation, at this point, unfortunately does not include the solemnisation by humanists of same-sex marriages. Obviously, that is one of many issues that is being referred to the constitutional convention. In time, we may return to the Dáil on that point.

Overall, this is a reflection of how Ireland has changed. It is also a reflection of what happens in other countries, as a number of Deputies pointed out, particularly in a country like Scotland. Like other Deputies, I have attended many ceremonies conducted by humanists, both funerals and weddings, and they have been conducted with great dignity, solemnity and respect. Bearing in mind that marriage is about celebrating two people stepping out into life together, it is appropriate that it should be conducted with due ceremony, respect and solemnity. Another concern I had about some of the material in the submission from Atheist Ireland is that we must be specific about the criteria because there are places in the United States where the criteria for solemnising are very broad and, as a result, an Elvis impersonator in Las Vegas can perform wedding ceremonies. None of us wants anything like that here. There is all-party agreement on that point.

The question was asked why secular bodies are required to fulfil more criteria than religious bodies. The purpose of the Bill is to amend the provisions of the Civil Registration Act 2004 and the Bill sets out criteria that secular bodies must meet so they can apply to have their members included on the Register of Solemnisers. The inclusion of secular bodies on the register has not been addressed previously and the legislation is designed to ensure the institution of marriage is protected by applying a rigorous set of rules regarding the type of body that can be deemed eligible. In this regard, it is important that the criteria should be robust so that the authority to solemnise marriage would be granted only to stable, long-standing and reputable organisations. I am pleased to bring this Bill before the Dáil today.

See this speech in context