Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Today the High Court is hearing an application from Tipperary man Johnny O’Meara. In 2021, very tragically, Johnny’s partner, Michelle Batey died after an illness. Johnny contacted Deputy Kelly and myself after he had been refused widower’s pension and recognition from the Department of Social Protection. It did not recognise his sad loss because he and Michelle had not been married. There was no recognition by the State of the 20 years they had shared living together, of their children, Aoife, Jack and Tommy, or of the taxes he and Michelle had paid throughout their working lives. We in the Labour Party believe that it is time for the State to recognise cohabiting couples in this way. Will the Government prepare to hold a referendum first to make the constitutional definition of family more inclusive and not just limit it to the family based on marriage? We are in fact looking at this in the Committee on Gender Equality.

Second, will the Government accept the Labour Party’s cohabiting couples Bill which seeks to address the situation Johnny finds himself in and will it seek to end this inequality for cohabiting couples?

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