The Government's pledge to give legal recognition to same-sex couples is "virtually meaningless", the Labour Party has claimed.
Eamon Gilmore says Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan's promise last night to have the heads of a Bill to legislate for civil partnerships ready by next March kicked the issue off the agenda into "the indefinite future".
Speaking in the Dáil today, the Labour leader said the Government rejection of his party's Civil Unions Bill represented a climbdown on what was on offer during the previous programme for government under then-minister for justice, Michael McDowell.
He said the Green Party, who had supported the Bill while in Opposition, had been "outwitted and outmanoeuvred" on the issue by the far more experienced Fianna Fáil ministers.
"The indisputable fact is that the Greens have backed down, backed off and retreated from the principled position they expressed just eight months ago," he said.
Last night Mr Lenihan said the Government opposed the Labour Bill on the back of advice from the Attorney General that it was contrary to the explicit recognition given to the family based on marriage in the Constitution.
Green Party Minister for the Environment John Gormley said he was pleased that for the first time the State would soon recognise the validity of same-sex partnerships.