Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I will respond to Senator Mooney. It is unfortunate in a debate in which we are all in agreement - everybody has welcomed the Bill - that Senator Mooney's words were delivered in a somewhat discordant style. That may not have been his intention but he sounded somewhat hostile at certain times and that is unfortunate.

The first thing I should say about these amendments is that they have the full support of the Humanist Association of Ireland, members of which are sitting in the visitors' Gallery at my invitation and with whom I have consulted at every step of the way. They are entirely happy with the rigorous criteria set down here. Senator Mooney quoted my words on Second Stage, which I absolutely stand over. I am grateful to him for reminding the House of them. On Second Stage, we debated at length the issue of criteria. Everyone was in agreement on Second Stage that the Bill, as I had originally drafted it, was too broad and that it did not set any criteria and simply said the Minister would designate. It was wide open, therefore, for groups such as commercial groups to apply for designation and to be able to perform marriages for commercial purposes - Las Vegas style, I suppose. That is certainly not what I want or what anyone wants.

On Second Stage it appeared as if there were two routes we could go down on Committee Stage. One route of amendment would be to name the Humanist Association of Ireland and another route would have been to set down a rigorous set of criteria. As I said, subsequent to the Second Stage debate, I received representations from other groups and individuals who said that they might wish to have authorisation to solemnise marriages in the future.