NEW government legislation recognising same-sex partnerships yesterday stopped short of allowing couples to marry or adopt children.The milestone legislation also failed to give recognition to siblings who live together and companion-style arrangements so that they may benefit from greater rights and entitlements.
On the publication of the heads of a Civil Partnership Bill, Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said it would introduce a civil registration scheme for same- sex couples and a redress scheme for same-sex and opposite couples whose relationships come to an end after a minimum of three years.
The legislation also provides for the recognition of co-habitant agreements between unmarried opposite-sex cohabiting couples and between unregistered cohabited same-sex couples.
"This legislation is not giving marriage to same sex couples," said Mr Ahern. "It is giving them a civil registration scheme. It's giving them a substantial amount of rights that they would wish to have to allow them to live as normal individuals."
Taxation
Although the current proposals do not detail how maintenance, taxation, social welfare schemes and pensions will be changed to recognise civil partnerships, Mr Ahern insisted these areas would be dealt with by each of the Government departments as soon as legislation is passed.
The minister said that a referendum would be required if marital rights were to be introduced for same-sex couples.
"Under our constitution, marriage is given special recognition in Article 41.
"The Attorney General was absolutely adamant that under the existing provisions of our constitution we could not give an equivalence to same-sex couples as marriage," he said.
"If we were to do that, which we're not, we would have to go to the people by way of referendum and we've no intention of doing that. This is as far as we can go without it being in effect marriage."
Equality
Last night the Labour Party, which retabled its Civil Unions Bill yesterday, said the scheme of 172 pages and 138 heads would require detailed examination.
A spokesman said it was concerned at the failure of the Government to outline how equal treatment would work in terms of tax and social welfare payments.
The Gay and Lesbian Equality Network [GLEN] said the legislation was a fundamental step forward towards its goal of achieving full equality through civil marriage.
Spokesman Kieran Rose said the provisions would resolve many immediate and pressing issues faced by lesbian and gay couples and would also provide a platform for further progress.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties also gave a qualified welcome to the Government's decision, claiming the proposed legislation was more of a "staging post than a milestone".
Campaign groups and interested persons are now invited to examine the proposals and submit their views to the Department of Justice.
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