The Green Party has proposed legislating for same-sex marriages and the introduction of new rights for cohabiting couples, regardless of gender.
The plans go much further than the current proposals from the Government, which envisage the provision of a number of basic taxation and pension rights to same-sex couples, pending the outcome of the current High Court case by Dr Katherine Zappone and Dr Ann Louise Gilligan, who are seeking the recognition of their Canadian marriage.
The Green Party envisages the provision of total equality of marriage and partnership rights for same-sex couples compared with heterosexual couples.
This could be done, the party argues, through the introduction of legislation to make the the provisions for marriage in the Constitution "gender neutral".
In addition, the party has also proposed the introduction of a new system of civil partnerships to recognise the fact that many couples do not want to enter the binding legal commitment marriage entails, but who want legal recognition of their relationships.
People who enter into legal partnerships would enjoy the same taxation, pension and social welfare rights as married couples. Under the Green Party proposals, those in civil partnerships would also enjoy the protection of the family home laws, which prevent one partner from selling part or all of the family home.
Inheritance and guardianship rights would also be the same as those for married couples, but the dissolution of a partnership would be more straightforward than divorce, although the Green Party proposals provide for maintenance and other rights in the event of a civil partnership dissolving.
The party has also proposed legislation to provide rights and protections for couples who have been cohabiting for at least three years continuously.
Introducing the new policy, Green Party equality spokesman Ciaran Cuffe said that many of the laws relating to family life needed to be updated to recognise the reality of family life.
He said the party believes a constitutional referendum need not take place to introduce same-sex marriages, but would simply require laws to make the constitutional provisions on marriage gender neutral.
"We have to await the outcome of the [Zappone/Gilligan] case if a referendum is needed. We are prepared to do that," he said. "It could be done alongside a number of other amendments that are needed, such as the recognition of children's rights."
"We believe this is a simple matter of of basic equality," he said.
"The Green Party also recognises that marriages aren't always easy and would like to introduce a range of supports to help couples through difficult times. These include the development of family centres staffed by experts who could provide wide-ranging pre-marriage courses, marriage counselling, and in the event of marriage breakdown, work with couples and negotiate a settlement and avoid acrimonious court struggles."