Ivana Bacik (Independent)

It is clear that the flaw lies with the original Bill and the absence of a reference to children there. This is a tax measure and I accept the Minister's point that perhaps the changes proposed to provide for parity between children of civil partners and children of married couples go beyond the scope of a tax Bill. That is in line with the general principle, but it is disappointing that provision cannot be made to a greater extent for children of civil partners. As I said earlier, we need general, standalone legislation, not tax legislation, presumably from the Department of Justice and Equality, to provide for parity of treatment for children of civil partners generally. That is the legislation for which we should strive, and we will do that as best we can. That is probably the answer to this.