Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes, it is the intention of the Government to hold these two referendums in the autumn. If we do have a presidential election, which is not certain at this stage, that would seem to me to be the most obvious opportunity to ask the people of the country to cast their views on the referendums. In any event, the question to be put before the people has not yet been fully determined by the Government. Deputy Eamon Ryan mentioned the Constitutional Convention of which I was a member. The convention very much informed the preliminary thinking as to what the question might be that will be the subject matter of the referendum. The context is that there is need for a referendum on the specific issue of blasphemy because unless the constitutional reference is removed, the offence will be maintained on the Statute Book. In the past, the existence of this offence has been misconstrued and used to justify the maintenance of blasphemy regimes in other jurisdictions where freedom of expression is not accorded the same respect as is the case here.

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