Eighth amendment referendum timing
Deputy Bríd Smith raised the promised referendum on the eighth amendment, criticising the Government’s attitude to the Citizens’ Assembly and questioning the proposed June date. The Minister said the Assembly had made a valuable contribution, that the Oireachtas committee must finish its work, and that the Government was aiming for a referendum before students break for the summer.
I call Deputy Bríd Smith on behalf of her group and ask her to co-operate with me by asking about promised legislation.
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I am going to talk about the promised referendum on the eighth amendment. I read in a newspaper this morning that the Fine Gael Cabinet, or the Cabinet, does not believe the outcome of the Citizens' Assembly is acceptable for the party, the Dáil or the people. It appears that the Government, having decided to pursue the Citizens' Assembly process, is now rejecting it without letting the committee finish its work. Perhaps it should elect a new people.
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I am confused about the date that has been proposed. According to the newspaper report I have mentioned, it is probable that the referendum will take place on 8 June 2018.
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As Minister for Education and Skills, Deputy Bruton will be aware that all students will have vacated their colleges by then. I remind him that the same-sex marriage referendum was held on 22 May 2015.
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We will need large numbers of young people to participate in this referendum.
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They are not all in favour of repeal.
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Can the Minister explain why this referendum is being pushed back to June?
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I believe the Citizens' Assembly has made a very valuable contribution. This has been a very divisive issue in Irish society. It has been very helpful for the Citizens' Assembly to have had an opportunity to go through evidence and provide a report to the Oireachtas. The Oireachtas will have to make a decision on whether a proposal should be put to the people and, if so, what that proposal should be. That is why the work of the Oireachtas committee is so important. As the Taoiseach said yesterday, we have set a tight timescale to try to provide for a referendum before the students break for the summer. That is conditional on the Oireachtas committee being able to complete its work. The Taoiseach has urged those involved in that committee to approach their work constructively and to try to reach a consensus with the committee.