Minister Hogan announces dates for referendums

Hogan announces date for referenda


Áine Ryan

THE proposed abolition of the Seanad will be decided upon on Friday, October 4, next in a referendum announced by Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan last week.
As well as confirming the date for voting on the Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013, he also announced there would be a second referendum on the same day, the Thirty-third Amendment of the Constitution (Court of Appeal) Bill 2013.
Voting in the two forthcoming referendums will take place between the hours of 7am and 10pm and eligible voters who are not on the register of electors have until September 17 to get registered.
Application forms (RFA2) can be downloaded from
www.checktheregister.ie or can be obtained from city or county councils.
Ríona Ní Fhlanghaile, a principal officer in the Department of the Environment, has been appointed as the returning officer for the referendums.
In October 2009, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the abolition of the Seanad, and the reduction of the number of TDs by 20, would ‘save an estimated €150 million over the term of a DΡil’.
The announcement was made as part of a programme of constitutional reform by the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition.  
The proposals contained in the Court of Appeal Bill are based on the Report of the Working Group on a Court of Appeal, established by the  last government and published in 2009.
The Thirty-third Amendment of the Constitution (Court of Appeal) Bill 2013 provides for the establishment of a Court of Appeal and if the amendment is passed, the new court will hear appeals from the High Court and the Supreme.