Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I am not in a position to accept these amendments. They would remove the ability of the Minister of the day to make a regulation relating to clarifying circumstances where a couple may have lived apart for more than two years due to medical circumstances. This definition is linked to the regulation-making power inserted into section 123A of the Act for the Minister of the day to consider time spent living apart due to medical reasons as not bringing the relationship to an end.

The normal provisions are designed to apply where a couple have separated but have not formalised a breakdown of the relationship after two years, either by divorce or judicial separation, or dissolution in the case of civil partnership.

This is a standard provision to ensure that there is no doubt that the relationship still exists in a case where, for example, a couple is living apart because one of them is in a medical institution such as a nursing home. As a consequence, there will be no loss of eligibility for a couple in this scenario. Our concern is that the removal of this definition would impact on the operation of the ability to prescribe such circumstances.