Civil Partnership Bill criticised as ‘halfway house’
MarriagEquality, a group campaigning for same-sex civil marriage, said gay and lesbian people had been “short changed” by the bill, which was published yesterday by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern.
The bill, once enacted, will allow same-sex and opposite-sex couples to register as civil partners of each other.
Once registered, they will be treated in the same way as spouses under the tax and social welfare codes, with a range of rights and duties, including maintenance obligations, pension rights and succession.
A civil partnership will end only on the death of a partner or on dissolution by the courts.
The bill also proposes a “cohabitant’s redress scheme” for long-term couples who have chosen not to become civil partners or marry.
This will provide a legal safety net for people living in long-term cohabiting relationships who may otherwise be vulnerablefinancially at the end of a relationship.
Mr Ahern said the bill fulfilled a commitment in the Programme for Government to legislate for civil partnerships, and had been carefully framed to satisfy both the Constitution’s special protection of marriage and its commitment to equality rights.
“[The bill] provides legal protection for cohabiting couples and is an important step, particularly for same-sex couples, whose relationships have not previously been given legal recognition by the state,” he said.
But the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, while welcoming the proposed legislation as “broadly progressive”, said it remained “a halfway house to granting genuine equality to same sex couples through full civil marriage”.
The Green Party admitted the bill fell short of allowing same-sex couples marry, but said it represented a “significant, purposeful step” nonetheless.
The issue is a thorny one as the party had committed itself to fighting for same-sex marriage – which was not delivered.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
