THE CIVIL Partnership Bill, which will give people in long-term relationships many of the statutory rights of married couples, will be published today by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.
The legislation will allow same-sex couples to register their civil partnership for the first time and will also recognise a number of other rights and obligations previously denied to them.
Those rights and obligations are expected to include succession rights, protection of a home that a couple shares, plus maintenance rights in the event of a separation.
The Green Party made legislation that would give full recognition and protection to gay relationships one of its preconditions during coalition negotiations with Fianna Fáil in 2007. The programme for government included a promise to introduce civil partnership legislation.
A Green Party source said yesterday the party’s policy position is that gay marriage should be recognised. “This legislation is not as far as the Green Party policy requires, but it’s a step in the right direction. This will allow many rights and recognition, but will stop short of marriage.”
Mr Ahern has said in recent months that the Bill was necessary to recognise more complex arrangements in modern society, particularly those involving same-sex couples whose relationships have not previously been given legal recognition.
Under the Bill, once a civil partnership is registered, the couple will be dealt with in the same way as a married couple by the Revenue Commissioners. It will also extend those rights to other forms of long-term relationships. Unmarried opposite-sex couples will be allowed to register, as will those in non-sexual relations, such as siblings who live together, or cohabiting companions.
The heads of the Bill (giving an outline of the proposed legislation) were first published in late 2007 but progress was slowed by a number of complex issues. One of the issues is believed to have been the potential conflict between the strong rights conferred to marriage in the Constitution and the equality rights protected by Article 40.1.
Ahead of the publication, a number of campaigners calling for full legal recognition for gay marriage protested outside the Dáil yesterday. One male protester climbed to the top of one of the 4m-high pillars at the Leinster House gates.