Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

140. To ask the Minister for Health if he will report on the commitment the Government has given on holding a referendum on the eighth amendment. [41643/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government established a Citizens’ Assembly, in line with its Programme for Partnership Government commitment, to consider a number of matters including constitutional reform. The Assembly first considered the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution (Article 40.3.3), and submitted its final report, setting out its recommendations, to the Oireachtas on 29 June 2017.

The Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution is now considering the report of the Citizens’ Assembly in order to recommend to the Oireachtas the policy direction it should consider on the issue. The first public meeting of the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, chaired by Senator Catherine Noone, was on 20 September. The Committee is to report its conclusions and recommendations to both Houses of the Oireachtas within three months of its first public meeting, which would therefore be due on or before 20 December 2017. The Joint Committee’s report will then be debated in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

The Government has agreed to hold a referendum on the Eighth Amendment in May or June 2018 subject to the timely passage of a Constitutional Amendment Bill on the matter by the Houses of the Oireachtas.