Minister for Justice Michael McDowell is to set up an expert group to advise the Government on whether divorce laws should be changed to allow for the recognition of pre-nuptial agreements.
Mr McDowell will outline the plans for the review when he addresses the Seanad this evening on the issue, which has been raised by Senator Fergal Browne of Fine Gael.
At present there is no specific provision in Irish divorce legislation to recognise pre-nuptial agreements. At the same time they are not specifically outlawed in Irish marital law.
The High Court and Supreme Court has not yet delivered a judgment on the status of such agreements in Irish law.
The review follows similar moves in Britain, where the government has produced a green paper recommending their introduction.
Yesterday Mr Browne said he believed the State "cannot continue to ignore this aspect of marriage breakdown and divorce". He added that any review would need to "consider all the aspects of legally recognising pre-nups, including the potential impact on the constitutional rights of women and children".
The group, is expected to be chaired by a senior counsel with expertise in family law.
Family law expert Geoffrey Shannon welcomed the proposed review, adding that such agreements were no longer the preserve of wealthy American celebrities.
He said there was a significant interest in the potential of such agreements now, especially given the fact that Irish couples are frequently coming to a marriage with significant assets of their own.
"The recognition of pre-nuptial agreements could be done quite simply in a similar way to how separation agreements are dealt with in the current divorce legislation," Mr Shannon said.
Under the current legislation, courts when making a decision on a divorce and the division of assets and maintenance, are required to take into account the provisions of a previous separation agreement.
He said pre-nuptial agreements could be added to a list of issues that courts can take into account when adjudicating on a final divorce settlement, and provide judges with a large degree of discretion on which provisions of an existing agreement to take into account.