Tax Code
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-26
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Michael Cahill (FF), Kerry

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. I mentioned the case of the civil servant who passed away. His partner was refused the widow's portion of his civil servant pension as they were not married. This was also found to be unconstitutional. Contrast this with the current taxation system where partners are treated as strangers for capital acquisition tax purposes. This is wide open to a constitutional challenge to the current legislation. Obviously, I am aware that during the past week, the State secured a Supreme Court appeal against the judge's ruling that it breached the Constitution when it refused a spouse's pension to a man who had lived with his late partner.
There are anomalies in the current taxation system. Where a partner makes a gift to his or her partner, this will give rise to both capital gains tax and a gift tax. If they were married, however, there would be no tax. The tax rate bands for married couples differ from those for partners living together. This needs to be urgently addressed, and it is a matter for the Minister for Finance, Deputy Harris, to do so. The current legislation must be amended as soon as possible.
I referenced and made a couple of proposals in this regard. The current cap of €400,000 should be increased to €800,000 on the home and separated from any other inheritance. Equally, the €40,000 cap for a niece or nephew or brother or sister should be increased to €250,000. We should also be looking at the 33% tax on the value of assets exceeding the specific, relationship-based tax-free thresholds. Those thresholds should be significantly increased, as I have already stated.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:04+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-26