Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is a hard act to follow. I welcome the Minister, Deputy Burton, to the House and thank her for the support she has given this Bill. As others have kindly acknowledged, this is a reformulation of a Private Members' Bill - the Civil Registration (Amendment) Bill 2011 - that I initiated on behalf of the Labour Party group in this House on 10 November 2011. I welcome the members of the Humanist Association of Ireland who are in the Gallery, particularly Brian Whiteside, who has provided immense help and support with this Bill. I would also like to thank the Minister's advisers and officials who have been of great assistance in the reformulation of the legislation I drew up.

As I said, the Second Stage debate on the previous version of this Bill took place on 10 November 2011. It has been a long haul since then. I thank the humanists for their patience. I thank all of my colleagues in this House who spoke in support of the previous legislation on that occasion. I welcome the cross-party support that the Bill is receiving again this evening. The Bill before the House is essentially the same as the 2011 Bill in its purpose. It is a technical amending Bill. It amends the Civil Registration Act 2004, with the key effect of enabling members of the Humanist Association of Ireland and, potentially, other secular bodies to be entitled to perform legal civil wedding ceremonies. When this Bill has been passed, humanists will for the first time be able to legally perform weddings in Ireland, which is hugely significant.

Senator Norris is aware that I entirely concur with what he said about marriage equality. I hope that by the end of this Government's term in office, we will have corrected that anomaly in a way that ensures gay couples are able to marry. Indeed, they should be able to be married by religious and non-religious bodies in the same way as straight couples. As the Senator knows, the matter is currently before the constitutional convention, which is due to report by the end of next year. He is also aware that I have acted as legal counsel in an ongoing case before the High Court that seeks to establish the right to gay marriage. I think progress is being made on that front.

I remind Senator Norris and everyone else who supports marriage equality that it is not the purpose of this Bill. This legislation is making a small but important change to enable marriages to be celebrated by non-religious bodies as well as by religious bodies. I am particularly conscious the day after the budget that at a time of great economic hardship, this may be seen as less than significant. However, judging by the number of people who have contacted me about it - I am sure Brian Whiteside and others in the Humanist Association of Ireland and Michael Nugent and others in Atheist Ireland have also been contacted - this Bill will have a significant effect on a number of people who have for a long time wished to get married in accordance with their own beliefs but have been unable to do so because humanist weddings have not been legally recognised. Such people have had to arrange two wedding ceremonies - a civil ceremony with a HSE registrar for legal purposes and a humanist ceremony with friends and family to celebrate in their own way. This legislation will have an important impact on those people.

As the Minister eloquently acknowledged, the changes being made in this Bill are in keeping with this country's move towards a more pluralist and inclusive society. That this Bill has been initiated here is in keeping with the traditional role of the Seanad as the House in which progressive social reforms have been brought forward over the years. I am proud that this legislation, in its original inception and in the Government version, is a creature of the Seanad. It was commenced in the Seanad in both cases. The Seanad was the first House, and is the only House to date, to acknowledge non-Christians in our opening ceremony. I refer to the one-minute silence that we have before the Christian prayer each day.

This Bill represents another way for us to accommodate difference in our laws, to show that we are inclusive and respectful of those who do not share the faith of the majority and to respect the values and belief systems of such people. It is another step in the process of making our society more inclusive. That important factor in the introduction of the legislation must be acknowledged. The Minister has outlined the detail of the Bill.

It will expand the definition of those who are capable of celebrating legal weddings beyond the religious bodies and HSE registrars. We know from Senator David Norris's very colourful exposition that there is quite a range of groups included in the list of bodies authorised as religious bodies to solemnise marriages. The list includes the pagan federation and the spiritualist union. It is anomalous that the definition has excluded members of the Humanist Association which has carried out humanist wedding, funeral and naming ceremonies for many years. The Bill will address that anomaly. The Bill is much more elegantly drafted than my original version of the Bill. I am happy to admit that it covers a whole range of issues that I - not being a professional drafter - had not covered, including temporary authorisation. I am glad to note that secular body is to be covered in the same way as a religious body and be subject to exactly the same rules as in the 2004 Act. When the original Bill came before the House on Committee and Report Stages on 2 May 2012, we ran into difficulty debating how we would deal with defining "secular body". I think this definition works well.

It is important to note some issues about humanism and the Humanist Association. Humanism is an ethical philosophy of life, based on a concern for humanity. Many people in Ireland, many atheists, including myself, would be proud to describe ourselves as having a humanist philosophy, whether we are members of the association. The association has a membership of more than 500 and has also become a voice for the non-religious who are, according to the most recent census figures, the largest belief group in Ireland, after Catholics. In census 2011 the numbers who ticked the "no religion" box increased to 270,000. Therefore, it is a significant group. It was good to see humanists represented with religious groups at the presidential inauguration of President Michael D. Higgins last year. Humanists are represented on the National Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in Education and, increasingly, are given status alongside religious bodies at official events.

Humanist wedding ceremonies are gaining legal status in many other countries and an increasing number of people here, as pointed out Senator Fidelma Healy Eames, have chosen to have humanist wedding ceremonies. There were 153 such weddings in 2011 and close to 200 couples will have had humanist non-legally binding humanist ceremonies by the end of the year. Humanists have 12 accredited celebrants and a detailed set of criteria of attributes for accreditation which people must go through before being accredited. It is clear that in a changing society we need to accommodate humanism and other viewpoints that do not fit with the majority religion. The Bill is entirely in keeping with that.

I am delighted the Bill is to pass all Stages today and that there is cross-party support. I thank the Minister for her support. It will go through all Stages in the other House on 20 December where, I hope, there will be cross-party support. I hope it can be signed and commenced by ministerial order by the end of December. Already many people have been disappointed because they could not have Christmas weddings. I hope the first humanist weddings can be held early in the springtime. Perhaps, the Bill can be progressed speedily and commenced swiftly once it has been passed through the Houses. I thank everyone for their kind words.