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 Commission is expressing no view on whether or not there are other costs associated with the Seanad.  We have no information on this. Below is the text of the Commission’s response.

 
Dear Mr Humphreys, 
The Chairperson of the Referendum Commission, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, has asked me to thank you for your email of 2 October and to reply on her behalf. In response to a number of requests from the public and from the media in relation to the costs of the Seanad, the Commission wrote to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission on 11 September 2013 and asked it to publish any information it had on its website. The Referendum Commission was aware from a report of the proceedings of Public Accounts Committee in January 2012 that the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission had some of this information.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission replied on 18 September and informed the Referendum Commission that the total annual running costs of Seanad Éireann had been estimated in the region of €20m per annum and that this was based on the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission outturn for 2012.  The Referendum Commission decided to publish this correspondence on its website and also decided to make no further comment on the matter.

While it may be that there are costs to the Exchequer which are met from other sources, the Referendum Commission does not have information on any such costs and it would not be appropriate for the Commission to comment on this.

Yours sincerely,

David Waddell
Secretary
Referendum Commission

The Commission’s original statement on this matter which includes links to the correspondence with the Houses of the Oireachtas can be viewed here  http://referendum2013.ie/referendum-commission-writes-to-houses-of-the-oireachtas-commission-on-seanad-costs/

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.

The Commission wrote to the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission on September 11^th saying it understood that the Houses of the Oireachtas Service may have estimates in relation to these costs and asking the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission would publish such information on its website.

The Houses of the Oireachtas Service replied on September 18^th giving information on the costs of the Seanad, but saying that these costs may not translate fully into savings.

Links to the correspondence are below:

Referendum Commission letter

Houses of the Oireachtas Commission response

http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20130916,20438110,20438110,flash,232

Get the facts and vote, says independent body. Watch the press launch video for more information. The Referendum Commission has begun its campaign to inform voters of the facts surrounding the proposals to abolish the Seanad and to set up a new Court of Appeal. Voters will decide in referendums on Friday 4 October whether or not to approve these proposals.

The Commission has set up a website, referendum2013.ie, which uses video and text to detail the proposed changes and to give background information. There will also be a printed Guide delivered to every household in the State, information through the press and social media, and a major advertising campaign on TV, radio, newspapers, outdoor and online.

Commenting at the launch of the campaign this morning, the Commission Chairperson Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said: “We aim to ensure all voters can inform themselves of the proposed changes to the Constitution in relation to the Seanad and the proposed Court of Appeal. There has been some public debate on the Seanad proposal, but much less so far on the Court of Appeal. Both are important issues.

“The Referendum Commission provides neutral and independent information. We don’t argue for a Yes or a No vote but we try to help voters to inform themselves, and we strongly encourage them to vote.”

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.

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.

The Referendum Commission Guide is also available online on its website at www.referendum2013.ie.  It also has a dedicated phone line 1890 270 970.  The Guide and website will feature text in both English and Irish.  Voters who have difficulty accessing conventional information material, can inform themselves via the versions of the Guide in Braille, Irish Sign Language DVDs, audio CDs and large print versions of the guide.  The Commission will also be using Irish Sign Language on some of its television advertisements.

The other elements of the Commission’s public information campaign, which will begin early next week, will include advertising appearing on radio, television, in newspapers and online giving brief explanations of the proposal.

The app guides people through the simple procedure of checking to see whether or not they are on the register, and downloading the forms required to register if they are not already on the list of those eligible to vote. Those who find they are not registered or are registered at the wrong address can correct this if they get the forms to their local authority on or before September 17th.

The referendums on the Abolition of the Seanad and the establishment of a Court of Appeal take place on Friday October 4th.

The Commission’s App can be accessed from its Facebook page which is at https://www.facebook.com/referendumcommission

According to the Chairman of the Referendum Commission, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne: “This Facebook App is an easy way for people to check the register and get registered before polling day. One of the primary functions of the Referendum Commission is to encourage people to vote, and encouraging voter registration in this way is an important part of this.”

An online advertising campaign over the next few weeks will direct people to the app which directs people to the simple step by step online procedure of checking the register and applying for inclusion on the supplementary register. Users of the app will then have the option of, with a click of the mouse, telling all their friends that they have used this app and that others should check the register in this way.

As well as Facebook the Commission will also be active on Twitter during the campaign at @RefComm2013.

“Every Irish citizen aged 18 or over on polling day is entitled to vote”, according to Judge Dunne. “Yet many people can’t use this vote for the simple reason that they have not been put on the register, or they are registered at an old address.

“A vote on changing our constitution is a very serious matter. This is one of those occasions where a major decision is not made by the Government, the Oireachtas or the Courts. It is solely for the people to decide and the outcome is determined only by those people who vote. I would encourage people to check the register to ensure that your voice is heard.”