We need to move to a situation where same-sex couples can nominate a partner with legal rights, according to the CEO of the Equality Authority, Mr Niall Crowley.
A legal formula to confer such rights needed to be found, he said. He was speaking at the launch of a report on the partnership rights of same-sex couples, published by the authority yesterday.
The report was intended to promote discussion on the issue. A working group would report to the authority with specific recommendations in the coming months and the authority would then put forward proposals, he said.
Ms Kate Hayes, chairwoman of the authority, said other states had addressed inequality between same-sex and heterosexual couples. These included Canada, Australia, Denmark, France and the Netherlands.
For example, in the Netherlands same-sex couples had been able to register their partnership since January 1998, and tax regulations there were the same as for married couples.
Equally, all cohabitees had the equal right to succeed to the lease on the homes of deceased partners.
One of the authors of the Equality Authority report, Dr John Mee, said unmarried heterosexual couples experienced the same discrimination as same-sex couples in various areas. However, they had the option to marry, which samesex couples did not.
One such area related to property rights. Where a couple shared a family home there was no provision for the sharing of any assets that might result from it appreciating in value, he said. Unmarried partners also had no succession rights.
However, many of these difficulties could be avoided if the parties involved made a will and nominated their partner as executor, he said. In this way they could also set out details such as funeral arrangements.
Dr Mee and Ms Kaye Ronayne carried out an audit on behalf of the Equality Authority of the situation of same-sex couples in a number of areas, including in relation to children, pension and property rights, inheritance rights and taxation.
They found that same-sex couples were prohibited from adopting children, and a partner in a same-sex relationship had no right to parent the other partner's child.
In relation to custody and access to children, the report states: "Under current legislation, it appears that the fact that a parent has entered into a same-sex union should have no bearing on that parent's right to apply to the court for custody of his or her child, save for where the court determines that such behaviour is likely to affect the child's welfare."
Referring to pensions, the report found that public sector schemes were inflexible and discriminatory, in that there were no trustees with discretionary powers in a decision-making process.