Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

The questions relate to referenda on constitutional amendments generally. In this regard I would like to go through them one by one with the Taoiseach.

Is the Taoiseach saying Ireland will definitely hold a referendum on the EU reform treaty or is he saying this has yet to be decided by the Government? I refer in particular to his comment that the Government has yet to decide how the ratification process will be undertaken. I would like some clarity on that. My recollection was that following the summit last June, the Taoiseach gave a public commitment that a referendum would be held.

On the referendum on children and the proposed all-party committee which I welcome, when will that committee be established? There were passing references at different stages to other possible referenda, for instance on the question of building land arising from the all-party committee report. Will a referendum be held on that issue or will recommendations be implemented by way of legislation? The Fianna Fáil election manifesto contained a reference, not repeated in the programme for Government, to changes in the courts system to deal with the problem where criminal trials collapsed because of legal technicalities. There was a reference to the possibility of an amendment to the Constitution to deal with that. Is that still envisaged?

On the situation facing de facto couples be they non-marital heterosexual couples or same sex couples, does the Taoiseach intend to regularise the position of the relationships of such couples by way of legislation or constitutional amendment?

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