Ireland's Civil Partnership Bill, tabled in Parliament on Friday, improves the legal rights of same-sex couples, but stops short of recognising gay marriage.

The government aims for the Bill to become law by the end of this year, reports the Irish Times.

It will allow same-sex couples to register their civil partnership and allow them to enjoy the same statutory protection as married couples - and greater tax, inheritance and pension rights.

Rueters reports that Kieran Rose, the chairman of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, is hailing the Bill as "an historic civil rights reform that will resolve many immediate and pressing issues faced by lesbian and gay couples and the minister and the government are to be congratulated."