asked the Taoiseach where the transitory provisions of the Constitution (Articles 51 to 63) are most conveniently to be found; and if he will direct the publication of those Articles in the form of a separate appendix or supplement to future editions of the Constitution's text.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Provisions of Constitution.
1.
In accordance with Articles 51.4 and 52.1 of the Constitution, the transitory provisions must be omitted from all official texts of the Constitution published after times specified in the Constitution. Those transitory provisions are, therefore, to be found only in copies of the Constitution published earlier than three years after the inauguration of the first President.
The Taoiseach will appreciate that these Articles, although required, as he said, to be omitted from the text of the Constitution printed after their validity had expired, are still part of the law and still occasionally require to be referred to. It is strange that, Articles of the Constitution, even though they are transitory Articles, should not be available, if I understand the Taoiseach, in any printed form later than 1941. The reason I asked the Taoiseach whether he would require a separate printing as an appendix or supplement of these Articles is that I appreciate that they cannot be printed as part of the Constitution; but surely it would not kill the Stationery Office to produce, as a convenience to the legal profession, if nobody else, a slim appendix containing those transitory Articles which are still part of the law.
It is true, as the Deputy stated, that under the original Constitution these transitory Articles are still part of the law and they have no legal significance. I suppose one can say that it is an academic question in both senses of the word in which it is ordinarily understood. I agree with the Deputy that if there was a reasonable public demand for them they might be published separately. Perhaps the Deputy would give me an indication along the lines he has suggested, and I would be happy to give due consideration to any reasonable suggestions he makes along those lines.
Offhand I would be able to give the Taoiseach a list of five or six cases in which one or other of those Articles has been litigated in the last ten or 15 years.