Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This question was transferred from the Department of the Taoiseach. I met Government colleagues and senior officials on 8 November to discuss the ruling delivered by the Supreme Court in the McCrystal case on that day. Subsequently, discussion of the Supreme Court ruling featured in various meetings with Department officials and colleagues in the intervening period.

Further to the meeting of 8 November, I issued a statement encouraging people voting in the referendum on 10 November to focus on the substance of the amendment and the historic importance of the proposal to amend the Constitution. I also drew attention to the reference made by the Supreme Court in its ruling that the substance of the referendum proposal "is a matter for the people alone".

Later that afternoon I contributed to a debate in Seanad Éireann on the Supreme Court decision. Deputy Troy mentioned that earlier. One must remember that when I spoke in the Seanad, while the full Supreme Court judgments were awaited, there were no other court proceedings underway at that stage, whereas right now there are. In the Seanad I set out at length the background to the Government's provision of public information. On 19 November, leave was sought from the High Court to challenge the referendum result. These proceedings make specific reference to the Government's provision of public information and the ruling of the Supreme Court in the McCrystal case. In the circumstances, as I stated already, I am severely constrained in going into the details of these matters outside the High Court process until these proceedings are concluded.

As I said in my statement of 8 November, in providing public information the Government at all times acted in good faith and with the best of intentions in informing people about the substance of the amendment. In the Supreme Court judgment of 11 December, the Court found that the Government at all times acted in a bona fide manner.

The Government considered that, in its provision of information to the public, it was paying appropriate regard to the McKenna principles. The approach taken followed that of previous information initiatives by Governments to bring the issues for decision by referendum to the people. It reflected the Government's understanding at the time of the legal requirements in this complex area of law. Up until the Supreme Court decision of 8 November, the Government acted in line with the decision handed down by the President of the High Court on 1 November. As Deputy Troy will be aware, the High Court accepted the case the Government was making. Following the Supreme Court decision, my Department took immediate steps to withdraw from public information activities to ensure compliance with this decision.

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