asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will give details of the campaign to be conducted by the Government to ensure the passage of the referendum to ratify the Single European Act.
34.
Written Answers. - Referendum Campaign.
24.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the steps the Government are taking to mount a full information campaign on the issues of the forthcoming referendum campaign, and if the Government proposes to make funds available to political parties represented in Dáil Éireann to enable them to campaign for or against the proposal in the referendum as they see fit; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 24 and 34 together. As for the measures the Government intend to take in support of an information campaign for this referendum we have decided the following:
(i) The Government is producing a revised and updated information booklet on the Single European Act similar in nature and scope to the Explanatory Guide issued in November 1986.
(ii) The Government Information Service will also be publishing a leaflet series on the Single European Act and its implications for Ireland.
(iii) The Government will launch a full scale information and advertising campaign in support of the referendum to encourage the electorate to consider what is at stake in this campaign.
(iv) The Government is committed to campaigning vigorously in order to achieve a clear-cut majority in support of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.
We believe that this result is in the best interests of the Irish people and that anything less could have adverse consequences of the most damaging kind.
It has never been the practice of Irish Governments to make funding available to political parties or interest groups to fight referenda campaigns. This is a position the present Government supports and no funding will be made available to political parties represented in the Dáil to conduct a campaign either for or against the proposed amendment to the Constitution. Fianna Fáil will conduct an active campaign in support of the referendum and I hope that the other political parties in this House, recognising the extreme importance of this issue for Ireland's membership of the Community, will do likewise.