Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to return to the House to report on the further amendments made to the Bill in Dáil Éireann. A total of 33 amendments were proposed and approved during Committee and Report Stages. These were all Government amendments and were for the most part technical changes or text corrections. Two new Parts were added to the Bill, concerning the handling of documentation on the conclusion of tribunals of inquiry and the transfer of the family mediation service to the Legal Aid Board. All of the amendments made to the Bill since its passage by the Seanad have been in preparation by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, and I am pleased that they became available for inclusion during the Dáil stages.

I should also mention that among the amendments approved by the Dáil were those dealing with the extension of rights to civil partners with regard to the acquisition of citizenship, which I promised we would address when the Bill first came before the Seanad. This had been advocated by Senators, particularly Senator Zappone, and I am pleased to report that progress. For ease of reference and to facilitate the debate, I will group the amendments to correspond with the different Parts - 15 Parts in total - in the Bill as passed by the Seanad and the two new Parts derived from amendments in the Dáil.

The first group of amendments is Nos. 1 to 5. These essentially relate to the Long Title and to Part 1 of the Bill. Amendment No. 1 amends the Long Title, while amendments Nos. 2, 3 and 4 concern corrections to the collective citation of the Bill, while amendment No. 5 refers to the commencement provisions. Those sections of the Bill that will require commencement orders are clearly set out.