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The Green Party launched an
innovative policy today calling for same-sex marriage, civil
partnerships for both same-sex and heterosexual couples, and legal
rights for couples who live together. The Party believes legislative
changes are necessary to ensure equality for all, to offer
protection for the contemporary family and to provide a legal
framework in areas including taxation, inheritance and maintenance.
Launching the policy in Buswell's Hotel, in Dublintoday, Green Party
Justice, Equality and Law Reform spokesperson Ciaran Cuffe TD said:
"Marriage plays a vital role in our society, but many aspects of
this institution have changed since our Constitution was adopted in
1937. The Green Party believes it is necessary to update legislation
to provide for the contemporary times we live in.
"We believe that same-sex couples should have the opportunity to
marry and we propose to introduce a bill that would make all terms
connected to marriage in the Constitution gender neutral. The Irish
Constitution already states that all citizens must be treated
equally, and marriage itself is recognised as a human right by The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental
Rights of the European Union.
"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 an acrimonious court struggles."
Green Party election candidate for Dublin West Roderic O'Gormansaid:
"The Green Party recognises that not everybody is happy within the
comparatively onerous constraints of a marriage and as such we are
proposing the creation of a new category of civil partnerships. This
will allow both same-sex and heterosexual couples to share a wide
range of rights and responsibilities in areas including property,
taxation, succession and medical issues.
"However, the fact that a civil partnership can be created and
dissolved with greater ease than a marriage shows that it is
different from that institution and, thus, avoids any suggestion
that civil partnership could be an attack on marriage, which is
forbidden in the Constitution."
Green Party Women's Affairs spokesperson Cllr. Bronwen Maher said:
"In the past two decades Irelandhas seen a great increase in the
number of couples who choose to live together without getting
married. Currently, these couples are offered no protection under
the law. This has led to many hardships and difficult circumstances
in situations where a partner dies or where the couple separates.
"The Green Party believes that protection should be put in place in
areas such as pensions, social welfare, maintenance, and property
and succession rights. This protection would apply when a couple
have been living together for three years or more or if a couple
have been living together and have a child. The social welfare code
should also be changed to allow same-sex couples living together the
same recognition as heterosexual couples." |
