Irish law will not affected by European Commission moves to harmonise divorce rights for EU citizens, Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said today.
The Irish Timestoday revealed that an EC Green Paper requires Ireland to formulate a response on amending its divorce law by September. A change could be needed if moves to entitle EU nationals living in other member states to divorce under the terms of their home country are put in place.
The commission's discussion paper, which is now before the Oireachtas, would not interfere with the Irish regime because the State had not opted in to the relevant provision at the signing of the European Constitution, Mr Cowen said.
Speaking in the Dáil in the absence of the Taoiseach, who is in Spain, the Fianna Fáil deputy leader said Irish divorce law adopted after a referendum in 1995 could be preserved under the terms of the EU Constitution.
This afternoon Mr Ahern added that Ireland's relatively strict 1995 divorce law was protected under the new EU Constitution and wouldn't be affected by the new EU proposals.
Speaking in Madrid, he said: "The European Union has no say in these matters, in other words, it's none of their business. "Irish divorce law is a matter for Ireland."
Ireland operates a relatively strict regime, requiring a married couple to be separated for at least four of the five years previous to applying for a divorce.
The EC paper came about following the Amsterdam Treaty of 1999. Currently, there is no provision for cross-community divorce law but pressure has been building for a "common judicial area" as part of moves to grant equal rights to all EU citizens.
Legal sources quoted in today's Irish Timessaid that if non-nationals were entitled to use foreign divorce law in Ireland, Irish couples could begin lodging discrimination claims.
The Department of Justice issued a statement this afternoon saying there would be a response to the Green Paper before the September 30th deadline.
It said the harmonisation of law was not at issue, but "the question of applicable law and jurisdiction in divorce cases which have a cross-border dimension".
It also said the Green Paper "acknowledges that among the possible ways forward is no change in the status quo on the basis that the issue does not warrant community action".