Denis O'Donovan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail)

As chairman of the All-Party Committee on the Constitution it is important to contribute to this debate. The All-Party Committee on the Constitution has been given the task of examining the Constitution in its entirety. It makes sense that it should have the opportunity to examine any proposals for constitutional change.

The committee has viewed the Constitution as consisting of two large parts. One part consists of the group of articles dealing with the institutions of State while the other part consists of the group of articles dealing with fundamental rights. The committee has published progress reports dealing with the institutions of State and is now dealing with the second group.

The committee produced a report on the right to life to support the discussion on the abortion referendum. A few weeks ago it produced a report on private property to support the discussion of the problems that have arisen with regard to housing and infrastructure. It proposes to continue its examination of fundamental rights and in that regard proposes to examine the rights of children and the rights of those with disabilities.

When it has completed its examination of the group of articles dealing with fundamental rights, it proposes to deal with the miscellaneous group of articles, Articles 1 to 10. Among this group are Articles 2 and 9 which deal with nationality and citizenship.

The articles of the Constitution are complex because they are general and subject over time to interpretation and reinterpretation by the courts. While politicians develop skills in evaluating the probable effects of various legislative measures on people's lives, which helps shape the legislation as well as possible, the evaluation of constitutional provisions are notoriously demanding in this regard. As a result, the studies of the committee typically take from nine months to a year to complete.

The subjects of nationality, citizenship and naturalisation are intricately interwoven. Moreover, they need to be considered in line with the concept of European citizenship. It would be unreasonable to expect that the committee would complete a report by September which could form a basis for a constitutional proposal to be put to the people next November when the presidential election may take place.

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