IT IS NOW six months since Ministers formally decided to legislate for a range of legal rights for cohabiting heterosexual and same-sex couples, as promised in the programme for government. And while work on drafting sections of the Cohabiting Bill are said to be "well advanced", the commitment to legislate for civil partnership "at the earliest possible date" may be losing traction because of its financial implications. As Ombudsman Emily O'Reilly observed this week: tax and social welfare laws discriminate unfairly against tens of thousands of cohabiting couples, denying them benefits that married couples normally enjoy. Anomalies between social welfare and income tax codes and other forms of discrimination have penalised unmarried partners and become a source of resentment for cohabiting couples.
One-in-eight relationships in this State now involve cohabiting couples. And while in-built prejudices in the taxation and welfare systems are the source of a considerable amount of distress, it is the absence of legal protections and recognition for the status of same-sex couples that is particularly unacceptable. The proposed legislation will not grant same-sex couples the right to marry under the Constitution, but it will provide for the registration of same-sex partnerships. And it will generate a range of marriage-like entitlements for all cohabiting couples. Specifically, it will bring legal certainty to the status of cohabiting agreements and provide a safety net for people living in long-term relationships. Property, succession, social welfare, maintenance, taxation and pension rights will all be addressed.
The importance of resolving these deep-seated and traditional forms of discrimination in the interests of a just and enlightened society should be obvious to all. Such a move poses no threat to married couples and their children, who will continue to enjoy the full and specified protections of the Constitution. The fact that consequential tax and welfare changes will involve a cost to the exchequer should not be used to justify delay. As things stand, the terms of the Cohabiting Bill and its legal protections are unlikely to become law until late next year, at the earliest. Only then will Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern be in a position to advise other relevant agencies of the need for fiscal change. Extra costs may not be incurred until 2010 or later. Whatever about concerns regarding these financial aspects, it is vital that the Government should live up to its commitment to formally recognise, at the earliest possible date, the many forms of relationships that exist in modern Ireland.