merrion street

The Government today considered the Third Report of the Convention on the Constitution, Amending the Constitution to provide for same-sex marriage and agreed to the holding of a referendum during the first half of 2015.

Speaking today, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said:

I am very pleased that the Government today agreed to hold a referendum on same-sex marriage during the first half of 2015. My Department will be engaged over the next 12 months with the Attorney General on the framing of the specific amendment to the Constitution and on the drafting of the Bill required for the referendum on this important matter.

I will shortly report to the Dáil on the Government’s positive response to the Constitutional Convention’s Third Report. The Government shares the concern of Mr. Tom Arnold, the Chairman of the Constitutional Convention that people be better informed in relation to referendums and is also concerned to ensure that questions put to the people in referendums give rise to no misunderstanding or confusion. These are issues the Government will be giving further consideration to and it is also considering the possibility of a referendum commission being appointed earlier than has been the case up to now.