Dick Spring
Question:15 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs when the Government intends to hold a referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15679/97]
Written Answers. - Amsterdam Treaty.
As the Deputy will be aware from my own remarks in this House on 16 October and those of the Taoiseach a week earlier, it is intended that a referendum on an amendment to the Constitution permitting the State to ratify the Treaty of Amsterdam will be held in spring 1998, I hope in March. Consideration of an appropriate wording for this amendment is currently under way in the Office of the Attorney General. When the Attorney General has advised the Government in relation to the wording and the Government has taken the necessary decisions in the light of that advice, I will arrange for the drafting of a Bill amending the Constitution and for its presentation to Dáil Éireann.