Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 344: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the anomaly whereby a cohabiting couple are treated as a single household for social welfare eligibility purposes, yet for Revenue Commissioner purposes they are treated as two individuals and may not benefit from each other's tax credits; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16140/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The social welfare and tax systems have evolved over time and in response to a variety of factors, including Constitutional imperatives as interpreted by the Courts, changing social trends and EU Directives. The EEC Equality Directive 79/9 and the subsequent Supreme Court case (Hyland v Minister for Social Welfare, 1989) led to the change in the treatment of non-married cohabiting couples in the social welfare code. The Court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the total income a married couple received in social welfare benefits to be less than the couple would have received if they were unmarried and cohabiting. Accordingly, there was a constitutional imperative for the social welfare code to treat married and cohabiting couples in a similar manner. The income tax arrangements for cohabiting couples are a matter for the Minister for Finance.