John McGahon (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues in the Labour Party for bringing forward this motion. This important matter first came across my desk in my office in Dundalk a number of months ago. It came across my desk because somebody's partner had passed away and they came into my office to see what kind of financial supports were available. I instantly thought of the widow's pension or something like that. I thought that this already existed and that there was already something for people who were cohabiting. That shows my total lack of knowledge. I have been a councillor for six years and a Senator for two years so I deal with social protection queries a lot. I was amazed to see that there is an anomaly within the system and that this is not there. That happens all the time in legislation and with social protection. Things come along and we notice that there is an anomaly or a grey area. For some reason or other, something falls through a crack and then it is up to us as legislators or to the Minister to try to rectify and fix it.

It was brought home to me a number of months ago when this individual met me in my office. It was brought home to me again this morning when I got an email from a person from my town called Maria. I will not read out the entire email but I will summarise it:

Alan, my long-term partner died suddenly last year at the age of 38. Despite living together for 18 years, having 2 children together and both of us paying taxes all our adult lives, I am not entitled to The Widow's Pension from the Department of Social Protection because we were not married. [Quite rightly she believes] The law discriminates against cohabiting couples and doesn't reflect modern Irish society.

She made another point, which is true because I deal with this at every stage. She said that at every stage throughout Alan and Maria's lives, whenever a social protection query or funding was going into the house, both of their incomes were assessed despite them not being married. On one level, for any social protection payment the Department assesses both incomes, whereas for this particular payment the Department does not assess it at all. It is a grey area that needs to be resolved for thousands of people across this country. We all agree that this has to be rectified. No one on this side of the House is saying this should not be done; we all want to get there. I am sorry that I was not here for the Minister's speech but I have read it briefly. She said that she wants to take time out to look at the legislation and to have it considered properly within 12 months. I know that is difficult for people. If we could introduce this tomorrow morning, we should do so. I am not saying this because the Minister is in my party or policy area but one thing I know about the Minister is that she sticks to her word. I have seen that time and again in my working life with her and in this House. I am confident that whatever the Minister has said this evening about this, it will be followed through on, and I know that for a fact from my previous dealings.

This period of 12 months seems like a long time. It can be very difficult for families that have campaigned for this for so long and it can be difficult for people like Maria, who lost her partner last year. At the same time, we have to get it right and make sure it is done in the right way to get that support to those families that deserve this payment. I do not know what the solution is but from reading the Minister's remarks I am happy to follow her lead on it. I know she has the best interests of this particular issue at heart. That is the point; we are all on the same page, we all want to get the best outcome and we want to do it as soon as possible. The legislative process can be difficult, as we all know, but on the flip side all of us were legislators during Covid and we saw how quickly legislation can come about if we really want to do that as a Government. This is an important debate and I commend the Labour Party on bringing it forward. We are all on the same page. I know I am and the reason I am on that page is because of the experiences I have had with people coming into my office. Maria's email this morning struck me particularly hard.

I am 31 years of age and perhaps I will be married in the coming years. Who knows? I am not making light of it but the point about it is that more and more people in Irish society are maybe not getting married. Some 30 years ago, in my parents' generation, it was natural to be married in your early 20s.If someone was married at that age now one would look at them as though they had two heads. I have no doubt that when people of my generation or younger grow older they will ask what the point is in getting married or in having a religious ceremony and stuff like that. Irish society is changing. As we move on, the concept of cohabiting seems simpler and easier. That is the way that I believe Irish society is moving. Looking at the concept of marriage over the last 20 or 30 years that is very clear. Introducing what the Labour Party proposes here recognises where Irish society is going. It is something we should do and I know the Minister thinks that too. I know that she means what she says and she is inherently decent and this is a strong thing to her.

I have discussed this in depth with her special adviser in recent weeks. He has been very helpful and has reiterated the Minister's commitment. We are in her hands and relying on her to do her best on this very important issue.