SEANAD REPORT:FINANCE MINISTER Michael Noonan said he thought Katherine Zappone (Ind) might have identified a measure that was available to married couples but had not been extended in tax law to people in civil partnerships.

She was seeking to extend the definition of maintenance agreements for tax purposes beyond those made by a court order or on the dissolution of a civil partnership. She wanted to have the maintenance agreements made as part of a legally binding contract between two civil partners recognised for tax purposes. “I can see what the Senator is trying to achieve by this recommendation. There will exist a period of time between the breakdown of a relationship and the legal dissolution of a civil partnership, and solutions often need to be put in place to protect both partners.”

An additional deed of separation option was available to married couples, with maintenance agreements being recognised by the tax office.

“The Senator seems to have identified a disparity of treatment here. It is my understanding that civil partners have the option to enter into a similar type of agreement but that the maintenance payments are not recognised by taxation law unless the agreement is made a rule of court.”

Mr Noonan said he was reluctant to rush into an amendment of the legislation without further consideration of the consequences. However, he would instruct his officials to engage with the Revenue Commissioners, the office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice to examine the issues Dr Zappone had identified.

Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said that in relation to compensation through the redress board process and the discussions with the religious congregations, while it had been suggested that the congregations would be expected to make a 50/50 contribution. He did not want to prejudice the outcome of the discussions of the affected parties.