Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 49: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she proposes to take in conjunction with the Minister for Finance, to ensure that cohabitating couples are treated equitably by both the tax and welfare systems recognising their couple status. [16992/09]

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 social welfare code recognises the couple status of cohabiting couples and treats married and cohabiting couples in a similar manner. 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. The income tax arrangements for cohabiting couples are a matter for the Minister for Finance.