Referendum Commission

A Referendum Commission (Irish: An Coimisiún Reifrinn) was an independent statutory body in Ireland which had been set up in advance of referendums in Ireland from 1998 to 2019. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provided for the establishment of the body.[1][2] It was superseded in 2023 by the Electoral Commission, established on a permanent basis.

Background

In McKenna v. An Taoiseach (No. 2) (1995), the Supreme Court of Ireland upheld a challenge from Patricia McKenna to public expenditure to promote a Yes vote in the constitutional referendum on divorce. The Referendum Act 1998 provided for the establishment of a commission for each referendum to provide information about the contents of amendment. The first Referendum Commission was set up for the Amsterdam Treaty referendum.

Composition

The 1998 Act, as amended, provided that the Chairperson of the commission should be a former judge of the Supreme Court or Court of Appeal or a serving or former judge of the High Court nominated by the Chief Justice. The other members of the commission were the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Ombudsman, the Clerk of Dáil Éireann and the Clerk of Seanad Éireann. In the event any of those offices were vacant, the 1998 Act provided that the following be appointed respectively instead: Secretary and Director of Audit of the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General, Director of the Office of the Ombudsman, Clerk Assistant of Dáil Éireann, Clerk Assistant of Seanad Éireann.

The members of the last Referendum Commission, established for the Thirty-eighth Amendment held in 2019, were:

Name Role / Office
Tara Burns Chairperson / High Court judge
Seamus McCarthy Comptroller and Auditor General
Peter Tyndall Ombudsman
Peter Finnegan Clerk of Dáil Éireann
Martin Groves Clerk of Seanad Éireann

Functions

Under the Referendum Act 1998 the commission initially had the role of setting out the arguments for and against referendum proposals, having regard to submissions received from the public. Following the passing of the Referendum Act 2001 the commission no longer had a statutory function in relation to putting the arguments for and against referendum proposals. The 2001 Act also removed from the commission the statutory function of fostering and promoting debate or discussion on referendum proposals.[3]

A new referendum commission was set up in advance for each new referendum that took place, if the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government made a ministerial order to appoint a commission. The primary role of the commission was to explain the subject matter of referendum proposals, to promote public awareness of the referendum and to encourage the electorate to vote.[4] It could use television, radio, press, outdoor and cinema advertising and any other media over the weeks in advance of the referendum to give general information about the issues involved. It could help citizens find out some basic information about how to register to vote.[3] The commission's information booklets were also produced in braille and audiotape for persons with visual impairments. A publication in Irish Sign Language was also produced.[4] A dedicated website was created for the referendum.

Once the commission completed its functions it furnished a report to the Minister, within six months. The report detailed the carrying out of its functions, and the commission then dissolved one month after its submission.

List of commissions
Date established[3] Subject Date of referendum Referendum Chairperson Cost References
2 March 1998 Treaty of Amsterdam 22 May 1998 18th Amendment Thomas Finlay £2.2m
22 April 1998 Good Friday Agreement 22 May 1998 19th Amendment £2.1m
4 May 1999 Local government 11 June 1999 20th Amendment £0.6m
17 April 2001 Death penalty 7 June 2001 21st Amendment £0.8m [5]
International Criminal Court 23rd Amendment £0.8m [6]
Treaty of Nice 24th Amendment Bill 2001 £1.2m [7]
8 February 2002 Abortion 6 March 2002 25th Amendment Bill 2001 Frederick Morris €2.6m [8]
9 July 2002 Treaty of Nice 19 October 2002 26th Amendment Thomas Finlay €4.1m [9]
22 April 2004 Irish Citizenship 11 June 2004 27th Amendment Nicholas Kearns €3.1m [10]
6 March 2008 Treaty of Lisbon 12 June 2008 28th Amendment Bill 2008 Iarfhlaith O'Neill €4.9m [11]
7 July 2009 Treaty of Lisbon 2 October 2009 28th Amendment Frank Clarke €4.1m [12]
5 September 2011 Judges' Remuneration 27 October 2011 29th Amendment Bryan MacMahon €0.6m [13]
13 September 2011 Oireachtas Inquiries 27 October 2011 30th Amendment Bill 2011 €0.6m [13]
30 March 2012 European Fiscal Compact 31 May 2012 30th Amendment Kevin Feeney €2.0m [14]
19 September 2012 Children's rights 10 November 2012 31st Amendment Mary Finlay Geoghegan €1.7m [15]
6 June 2013 Abolition of Seanad Éireann 4 October 2013 32nd Amendment Bill 2013 Elizabeth Dunne €2.4m [16][17]
Court of Appeal 33rd Amendment
27 January 2015 Same-sex marriage 22 May 2015 34th Amendment Kevin Cross €1.1m [18]
Age of candidacy for Presidency 35th Amendment Bill 2015 €1.0m
9 March 2018 Abortion 25 May 2018 36th Amendment Isobel Kennedy €2.5m [19]
18 July 2018 Blasphemy 26 October 2018 37th Amendment €2.1m [20][21]
26 February 2019 Divorce 24 May 2019 38th Amendment Tara Burns €2.3m [22][23]

Repeal

The Electoral Reform Act 2022 repealed the Referendum Act 1998.[24] The Electoral Commission established under the same act was given the equivalent functions as Referendum Commission.[25] The Commission was established in 2023.

See also

References
  1. Referendum Act 1998 (No. 1 of 1998). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 15 May 2012.
  2. Referendum Act 2001 (No. 53 of 2001). Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book on 22 July 2008.
  3. "Referendum Results 1937–2018" (PDF). Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Archived (PDF) from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  4. "Referendum Commission". Citizens Information Board. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2012.
  5. "Abolition of the Death Penalty". Referendum Commission. December 2001. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  6. "International Criminal Court". Referendum Commission. December 2001. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  7. "Treaty of Nice 2001". Referendum Commission. December 2001. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  8. "Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy". Referendum Commission. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  9. "Treaty of Nice 2002". Referendum Commission. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  10. "Irish Citizenship". Referendum Commission. December 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  11. "Lisbon Treaty 2008". Referendum Commission. December 2008. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  12. "Lisbon Treaty 2009". Referendum Commission. January 2010. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  13. "Judges' Remuneration and on Oireachtas Inquiries 2011". Referendum Commission. March 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
  14. "Fiscal Stability Treaty 2012". Referendum Commission. September 2012. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
  15. "The Children Referendum". Referendum Commission. May 2013. Archived from the original on 28 May 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  16. "Abolition of Seanad Éireann and Court of Appeal Bill referendums". Referendum Commission. 25 November 2013. Archived from the original on 4 April 2018. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  17. McGee, Harry (13 June 2013). "New referendum commission will have long lead-in time for poll on Seanad". The Irish Times. p. 7. Archived from the original on 13 June 2013. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
  18. "Marriage Referendum and Age of Presidential Candidates Referendum". Referendum Commission. October 2015. Archived from the original on 20 March 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  19. "The referendum on the regulation of termination of pregnancy". Referendum Commission. September 2018. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  20. "Referendum on Blasphemy". Referendum Commission. 15 February 2019. Archived from the original on 30 June 2019. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  21. "Referendum Commission (Establishment) (No.2) Order 2018" (PDF). Iris Oifigiúil. 20 July 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  22. "Referendum on the regulation of divorce". Referendum Commission. August 2019. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  23. "Minister Murphy announces establishment of Referendum Commission". Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government. Archived from the original on 12 May 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  24. Electoral Reform Act 2022, s. 4: Repeals (No. 30 of 2022, s. 4). Enacted on 25 July 2022. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
  25. Electoral Reform Act 2022, s. 31: Referendum functions of Commission (No. 30 of 2022, s. 31). Enacted on 25 July 2022. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
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