Minister of State Mary Butler has said the wording of "durable relationships" in the upcoming family referendum is to capture the "wide range of families in Ireland today that are not based on marriage".
Ms Butler said family units that exist outside of marriage deserve the same constitutional rights as married couples.
Speaking on RTÉ's Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, she said: "They are strong committed, caring relationships such as couples with or without children, single parents and their children, grandparents raising their grandchildren and they need not be an intimate relationship.
"A yes vote would make it very clear in our constitution that the definition of family will move beyond only married families."
Ms Butler said: "What does durable mean? It means lasting, permanent and stable, so these are families who have chosen for a myriad of reasons not to get married. Why should they be excluded from our constitution which dates back to 1937?"
Ms Butler said that if there is a yes vote on 8 March, the proposed changes would not undermine or change the special recognition of marriage "as the constitution will continue to recognise the institution of marriage".
Ms Butler stressed that if people vote yes, nothing will immediately change.
"Constitutions express rights and values in the most generalised way. They have to endure over time and constitution inform legislation," she said.
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She was speaking as the second largest farming organisation in the State, the ICMSA, wants the Government to clarify what a "durable relationship" means ahead of the referendum.
Representing dairy farmers, ICMSA President Denis Drennan said farmers contacting him about the referendum are expressing concern about the lack of a definition of durable relationships and the Government's failure to provide such a definition to voters.
He said scenarios could be easily imagined where estates could be undermined or even wiped out through legal contests brought by individuals based on durable relationships.
Mr Drennan said the ICMSA was most concerned with viable and successful farm succession, but the questions were no less valid for any individual with an asset or property.
"It was unfair and unreasonable to ask the electorate to vote blind while this key definition was lacking," he said, adding that he "could not imagine farmers giving the proposed changes the support the Government seemed to expect".
Ms Butler said the amendment using the word "durable relationship" will not impact the law at the moment.
She said Ireland had moved ahead of the constitution in terms of the reality of modern families.
However, senator and former minister for justice Michael McDowell said the constitution currently does not prevent the Government from giving "any rights it considers appropriate to single mothers, grandparents, co-habitants."
Also speaking on Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin, he said the word "durable" had been looked at in a different context by the Supreme Court in relation to European Law.
He said: "They’ve said it does not depend on the longevity of the relationship and they were considering cases where it consisted of two adults, rather than a single parent situation, but in that context.
"If we elevate all of these relationships of people who are living together to the status of family there are a whole series of complex knock-on effects that this constitutional amendment does simply does not take into account," Mr McDowell said.
He said: "Once you get a situation where people are able to come to court and say I’m in a family it is recognised by the constitution, I’m not married but I’m asking the court to accord to me the same tax arrangements that apply to married people then you open the door to a whole series of knock-on consequences."
He said a married couple and an unmarried couple currently pay very different rates of tax and if both couples are considered families, they will likely ask to be treated equally and bring a discrimination case.
"If the courts accept that argument, the Oireachtas has to go along with it," Mr McDowell added.
