Marriage Act 2015

Oireachtas
An Act to amend the Civil Registration Act 2004 to remove the impediment to marriage of the parties being of the same sex; to repeal certain provisions of Part 7A of that Act relating to registration of civil partnerships; to make provision in relation to religious bodies; to provide for the recognition of marriages under the law of a place other than the State; to amend the Succession Act 1965, the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 and the Gender Recognition Act 2015; to amend other enactments and to provide for matters connected therewith
Citation	No. 35 of 2015
Enacted by	Dáil Éireann
Date passed	7 October 2015
Enacted by	Seanad Éireann
Date passed	22 October 2015
Date signed	29 October 2015
Signed by	Presidential Commission
Date commenced	16 November 2015
Legislative history
Bill introduced in the Dáil Éireann	Marriage Bill 2015
Bill citation	No. 78 of 2015
Bill published on	17 September 2015
Introduced by	Minister for Justice and Equality (Frances Fitzgerald)
First reading	15 September 2015
Second reading	23 September 2015
Third reading	7 October 2015
Introduced by	Minister for Justice and Equality (Frances Fitzgerald)
Second reading	20 October 2015
Third reading	22 October 2015
Related legislation
Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland; Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010
Keywords
same-sex marriage, inheritance
Status: Current legislation

The Marriage Act 2015 (No. 35 of 2015; previously bill No. 78 of 2015) is an act of the Oireachtas which provides for same-sex marriage in Ireland. The act gives legislative effect in statute law to the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland, which mandates such provision. It was introduced on 15 September 2015 and signed into law on 29 October 2015, and commenced (came into force) on 16 November 2015.

The Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland was approved by referendum on 22 May 2015. It makes recognition of same-sex marriages compulsory rather than optional. In March 2015, the Department of Justice and Equality published the general scheme of the Marriage Bill 2015, setting out the changes to be made to marriage law if the proposed amendment was enacted. Lawyer Benedict Ó Floinn felt the bill's drafting should have been completed before the referendum, to minimise the lacuna during which statute law is out of step with the constitution. The Fine Gael–Labour government hoped to have the Marriage Bill enacted before the Oireachtas' summer adjournment, but the constitutional change did not come into force until 29 August 2015 when the amendment bill was signed into law by the President; it had been delayed until the Court of Appeal rejected two petitions challenging the conduct of the referendum. The government stated its intention to enact the Marriage Bill "as early as possible" after the Dáil's resumption on 22 September 2015. The bill was approved at a cabinet meeting on 16 September for publication the following day.

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