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Minister Hogan Establishes Referendum Commission on the Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012
Mr. Phil Hogan, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, announced today (19th September 2012) that he has made an order under the Referendum Act 1998 establishing an independent statutory Referendum Commission for the purposes of the forthcoming referendum on the Thirty-First Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Bill 2012.
In accordance with the 1998 Act, the Chief Justice has nominated the Hon. Ms. Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan to act as Chairperson of the Commission. The Act provides that the other members of the Commission are:
• the Comptroller and Auditor General (Mr. Seamus McCarthy),
• the Ombudsman (Ms. Emily O’Reilly),
• the Clerk of the Dáil (Mr. Kieran Coughlan), and
• the Clerk of the Seanad (Ms. Deirdre Lane).
The principal functions of the Commission are to prepare a statement containing a general explanation of the subject matter of the referendum proposal, to publish this statement and distribute it to the electorate; to promote awareness of the referendum; and encourage the electorate to vote.
The Commission will, in addition, consider and rule on applications from bodies or groups for declaration as approved bodies who may appoint agents at the referendum to be present at polling stations and at the counting of votes.