Duncan Smith (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 11:

In page 16, after line 31, to insert the following:

“Report on the treatment of cohabitants under the Social Welfare Acts 24.The Minister shall, within six months of the passing of this Act, prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on the treatment of cohabitants under the Social Welfare Acts, with particular regard to the differences between the treatment of a married couple and a cohabiting couple.”

I am disappointed amendment No. 10 was ruled out of order, given there are many issues in that area.

Turning to the amendment before us, the concept of the family has changed and it is time to bring Ireland into the 21st century. We want all families to be treated fairly, whether people are married or not. This issue is experienced by a huge number of people. The 2016 census shows there are almost 75,000 cohabiting couples with child dependants, a figure likely to be even greater when the next census comes around. If a couple are cohabiting, the Department of Social Protection will assess both their means when carrying out a means test for social assistance payments such as jobseeker's allowance or the carer's allowance. It does not provide any guarantee to contributory social protection payments such as the widow's pension when one of them passes away.

The amendment seeks to make the treatment of all citizens equal. Cohabiting has an impact on many State payments and supports, that is, not just social welfare payments but also medical cards, payments to mature students and many more examples. A cohabiting couple cannot claim or transfer unused tax credits between themselves and there can also be an inherent tax burden when a partner passes away. For the assessment of eligibility for social welfare payments, a cohabiting couple are treated as together for income assessment, just as married couples are, but not if one of them dies.

Some laws do not discriminate. For example, the recent Affordable Housing Act provides for equal treatment of cohabiting couples to qualify for the purpose of an affordable dwelling if they plan to live together. Cohabitation is recognised for some laws, therefore, but not for others. It is time the law caught up with modern family life. The citizens' assembly has called for Article 41 of the Constitution to be amended to protect private and family life not limited to the marital family.

I believe Ireland is going to get to where we need to go in respect of cohabiting couples and I hope we can get there a little more quickly. With the Minister's help, we can do that through amendments to the Bill or some commitments that these kinds of changes can be made.

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