Opposition suggestions that civil partnerships be made even more like marriage have been dismissed by Justice 
Minister Dermot Ahern, who said they could give rise to a Constitutional challenge.
Fine Gael Justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan proposed an amendment which have created a legal obligation on those in civil partnerships to seek reconciliation before the granting of a dissolution of such a partnership.
Irish divorce legislation requires that the solicitors acting for both parties draw their attention to the possibility of reconciliation or mediation.
Mr Flanagan also suggested an amendment to the Bill such that courts would be required, on the dissolution of a civil partnership, to take into account the contribution made by either partner to the upbringing of any child to which the couple acted as guardian.
However, Mr Ahern said that the Attorney General had advised the Government that the absence of such a requirement was “part of keeping the key distinction between marriage and civil partnership”.
Putting such a requirement into the legislation increased the risk of a Constitutional challenge to the Bill, he said.
Mr Ahern also said that Mr Flanagan’s suggestion requiring courts to take the contribution made by either partner to a civil partnership to the upbringing of child might weaken the distinction between marriage and civil partnership.
Labour Justice spokesman Brendan Howlin said he believed the legislation should include the right of same-sex couples in civil partnerships to adopt.
However, Mr Ahern said that the Constitution stated that marriage was between a man and a woman, and for the State to provide equal constitutional protection for married families and other families would not be compatible with article 41.