Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has been accused of ducking the issue of civil partnerships after he today announced a working group to examine the issue.
Fine Gael Seanad leader Sheila Terry, who proposed legislation for the recognition of same-sex and unmarried couples 18 months ago, said Mr McDowell was "stalling".
Fine Gael Seanad leader Sheila Terry
"Yesterday's pictures of couples from Belfast have clearly made the minister sit up and take notice of the civil partnership issue to which he has paid lip service," Ms Terry said.
She said he had at least three options: he could draw up legislation similar the UK laws; adopt Fine Gael's proposal or accept into law senator David Norris's Civil Partnership Bill.
"Instead, Minister McDowell has gone for the classic stalling tactic, a working group. Yet again, the Government is one report away from action," Ms Terry said.
Mr McDowell said there were many options to be examined and that he hoped the group would report back by March next year.
The Green Party's Ciaran Cuffe said the issue was being buried unnecessarily.
"We believe Minister McDowell should be taking action now rather than delaying matters by setting up a Working Group. Civil Partnerships should be recognised now," said Mr Cuffe.
The Gay, Lesbian Equality Network (Glen) said its members wanted civil partnerships to come with the same rights and responsibilities as same sex couples, including the right to adopt children.
"Either we are full equal citizens or we are less than full equal citizens. We are not arguing for special rights. They [gay and lesbian parents] would be as good or as bad as heterosexual parents," said chairman Kieran Rose.
Glen met with Mr McDowell in Dublin today to discuss civil marriage and immigration for partners of gay and lesbian people.
Mr McDowell denied the Government had been slow to act, saying he had to wait for the reports from the All-Party Committee on the Constitution and on the rights of co-habiting couples from the Law Reform Commission.
Mr McDowell said he believed that old-fashioned attitudes to the issue in Ireland had moderated bit. "We were discussing that inside and our view was that the centre of gravity in Ireland has shifted. The world didn't end yesterday in Belfast. The Irish people know that being fair to everyone in the community is good for everyone in the community," he said.
The Government allocated an extra €100,000 to GLEN to fund a research and policy officer. It has also agreed to introduce a family re-unification protocol next April, which will make it easier for gay and lesbian people to bring partners in from other countries.
Additional reporting PA