Vol. 456 No. 3
72 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Equality and Law Reform the number of copies of the leaflet on the Divorce Referendum briefing note issued by his Department that have been printed; the cost of printing these leaflets; the way in which the leaflet is being distributed; and his views on whether the printing of this leaflet contributes to a fair referendum campaign in view of the fact that the leaflet advocates a pro-divorce stance. [13719/95]
The leaflet, which is the subject matter of this question was prepared for a number of reasons as follows. First, my Department receives numerous requests for information about the law and support services in relation to aspects of marriage breakdown and for information about divorce. Second, I am aware that many interest groups are constantly in need of information of that kind for their members and for the members of the public which they serve. Third, it has been clear from many public meetings which I have attended that there is a demand from the public to be informed about the legal and administrative provisions which address the problems of marriage breakdown. The leaflet was prepared against that background and it has been distributed widely on that basis.
The leaflet contains information only and I am unable to agree that it engages in advocacy of a particular position on divorce. A total of 19,000 copies of the leaflet have been printed of which 1,000 copies are in the Irish language. The cost of producing the total number of copies was £2,136.
