Summary of Seanad Éireann Proposal

If the Seanad referendum is passed, the Seanad will be abolished after the next General Election.  It would mean that in future, laws would have to be passed only by the Dáil, before being sent to the President to be signed. At the moment, for a law to be made in Ireland a Bill must be passed by the two Houses of the Oireachtas: the Dáil and the Seanad.  There would be some other changes to the Constitution to remove references to the Seanad, and to make new arrangements to deal with certain functions in which the Seanad currently has a role.

Summary of Court of Appeal Proposal

If the Court of Appeal referendum is passed, a new Court of Appeal will be set up at a level between the High Court and the Supreme Court. It would deal with most appeals which are currently dealt with by the Supreme Court. In some cases the Supreme Court could hear a further appeal, and it could also decide to hear an appeal directly from the High Court. The referendum on the Court of Appeal also includes a proposal to change how the Supreme Court gives its decision in certain cases.

Further information on both proposals is contained on this website.

Polling stations are open until 10pm today and each voter will be given two separate ballot papers: a white one for the Seanad referendum, and a green one for the Court of Appeal referendum.  Voters can vote Yes or No to each proposal.

According to the Chairperson of the Referendum Commission, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, “The two referendum proposals being put to the people are very straightforward and easy to understand.  The Commission’s material does not argue for a yes or no vote, it’s impartial and independent. We simply provide the facts.”

“Our Constitution is fundamental to how we order our society. It belongs to you and you can decide whether or not to change it.   Voting is a simple but important task. Take a few minutes out from your daily tasks today to do it. The Constitution belongs to us, the people of Ireland, and only we the people can decide if we want to change it or not. Be part of that decision,” Ms Justice Dunne concluded.

The Chairperson of the Referendum Commission Judge Elizabeth Dunne gave details of the proposal to abolish Seanad Éireann on RTE’s Morning Ireland.

The interview took place on Monday September 30th at RTE.

If you would like to listen to the interview you can do so by clicking on the link below.

You can hear her interview here.

The programme was aired on Monday September 23rd.

You can hear her interview here.