Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 2 December 2014
143. Deputy Robert Dowds asked the Taoiseach if he has made a decision regarding the possibility of including economic, social and cultural rights within the Constitution; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46039/14]
View answerI take it that the Deputy is referring to the recommendations of the Eighth Report of the Convention on the Constitution.
The Convention produced nine reports in all. The Government has already responded in the Dáil in detail to the first, second, third and sixth reports.
Briefly, in response to recommendations in the first three reports of the Convention on the Constitution, the Government has already announced that it will bring forward proposals in 2015 for referendums on same-sex marriage, reducing the voting age to 16 and reducing the age of candidacy for Presidential elections to 21.
Also in response to those reports, the Government decided to refer to the relevant Oireachtas Committee the question of a constitutional amendment to give citizens a say in the nomination process for Presidential candidates, and this has been done. The Government also undertook to look at making Article 41.2 of the Constitution on women in the home gender-neutral, and at including other carers both in and beyond the home; it also undertook to look at amending the Constitution to include the principle of gender equality, as well as at the use of gender-inclusive language in the Constitution.
The Government also announced earlier this year that work would commence on the establishment of an Electoral Commission, a key recommendation in the fourth Report of the Convention. More recently, in response to the sixth Report of the Convention, the Government announced that it will bring forward proposals for a referendum on the removal from the Constitution of the offence of blasphemy. No date for that Referendum has been decided yet.
The Government expects to give its response on the remaining Reports of the Convention, including the Eighth Report, early in the New Year if not before the end of this Dáil session.
