A gay pensioner has won the right for his partner to benefit from his free travel pass after winning a case against the Department of Social and Family Affairs, writes Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent.
The couple, who are based in Dublin, asked the Equality Authority to fight their claim after the Department refused to issue a travel pass to the cohabiting partner of the gay man under the Free Travel Scheme.
The Equality Authority chief exeuctive, Mr Niall Crowley, said yesterday that the settlement will have a beneficial impact on the gay and lesbian community.
Mr Crowley said Government Departments and public bodies should equality-proof other non-statutory schemes in the light of the settlement.
The Equal Status Act contains exemptions from its application only if the discrimination is permitted by statute.
However, the discriminatory provision in this case was not in a statute, but in an administrative scheme. It, therefore, did not come under the scope of the Act.
As a result of this case Mr Crowley said the Equality Authority is to examine other administrative schemes to see if they contained similar discriminatory provisions.
Under the current travel scheme a person aged 66 or over who is married or cohabiting is entitled to a free travel pass allowing a spouse or partner to accompany him or her on public transport.
Following the intervention of the Equality Authority, the Department of Social and Family Affairs accepted that the scheme, insofar as it did not extend equal benefits to same-sex and opposite-sex cohabiting couples, ran counter to the 2000 Equal Status Act.
This Act prohibits discrimination on nine grounds, including sexual orientation, marital status and family status.
The Department has formally withdrawn its letter refusing the application for a travel pass. Both men have received €1,500 each in compensation.
Mr Crowley said that the authority's report, "Implementing Equality for Gay and Lesbian Couples", had recommended that same-sex couples should have the legal right to nominate a partner for the purposes of next-of-kin rights in relation to hospital admission, inheritance rights, rights in a shared home and various social welfare entitlements.
Such partnership rights could also lead to a common approach across both statutory and non-statutory schemes, such as the Free Travel Scheme, Mr Crowley added.