Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
{{Short description|Amendment on cabinet confidentiality}}
{{for|the Irish Free State constitutional amendment|Constitution (Amendment No. 17) Act 1931}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{Use Hiberno-English|date=June 2022}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2016}}
{{Infobox referendum
|name = Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
|title = Relating to cabinet confidentiality
|flag_year = 1997
|date = {{Start date|1997|10|30|df=y}}
|country = Republic of Ireland
|yes = 632,777
|no = 569,175
|total = 1,268,043
|electorate = 2,688,316
}}
The Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1997 amended the Constitution of Ireland to provide that the confidentiality of meetings of the cabinet would not prevent the High Court from ordering that certain information be disclosed when this was in the public interest. It was approved by referendum on 30 October 1997 and signed into law on 14 November of the same year.
Changes to the text
Inserted a new subsection in Article 28.4:
{{quote frame|
3° The confidentiality of discussions at meetings of the Government shall be respected in all circumstances save only where the High Court determines that disclosure should be made in respect of a particular matter-
:i. in the interests of the administration of justice by a Court, or
:ii. by virtue of an overriding public interest, pursuant to an application in that behalf by a tribunal appointed by the Government or a Minister of the Government on the authority of the Houses of the Oireachtas to inquire into a matter stated by them to be of public importance.}}
The existing subsection 3° of Article 28.4 was renumbered as subsection 4°.
Overview
In 1992, during the Beef Tribunal, the Supreme Court ruled that, as the constitution stood, the confidentiality of meetings of the Government (the cabinet) was unbreachable and absolute. The court derived its ruling from Article 28.4.2°, which requires that the Government observe the principle of collective responsibility. The purpose of the Seventeenth Amendment was to allow cabinet confidentiality to be relaxed in certain circumstances.
The amendment was adopted during the Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats coalition government led by Bertie Ahern but had been first drafted and suggested by the previous Fine Gael–Labour Party–Democratic Left government led by John Bruton. The amendment, therefore, had the support of all major parties. The referendum occurred on the same day as the 1997 presidential election.
Result
{{Referendum
|title = Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland referendum
|yes = 632,777
|yespct = 52.65
|no = 569,175
|nopct = 47.35
|valid = 1,201,952
|validpct = 94.79
|invalid = 66,091
|invalidpct = 5.21
|total = 1,268,043
|turnoutpct = 47.17
|electorate = 2,688,316
}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Results by constituency{{cite web|url=http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|work=Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government|title=Referendum Results 1937–2015|page=56|date=23 August 2016|accessdate=17 May 2018|archive-date=20 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171220195002/http://www.housing.gov.ie/sites/default/files/migrated-files/en/Publications/LocalGovernment/Voting/referendum_results_1937-2015.pdf|url-status=live}} ! rowspan=2 | Constituency ! rowspan=2 | Electorate ! rowspan=2 | {{nowrap|Turnout (%)}} ! colspan=2 | Votes ! colspan=2 | Proportion of votes |
| Yes
! No ! Yes ! No |
|---|
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Carlow–Kilkenny
| style="text-align: right;" | 83,916 | style="text-align: right;" | 51.3% | style="text-align: right;" | 21,487 | style="text-align: right;" | 19,073 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 47.0% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Cavan–Monaghan
| style="text-align: right;" | 81,914 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 22,232 | style="text-align: right;" | 14,827 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 60.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 40.0% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Clare
| style="text-align: right;" | 69,756 | style="text-align: right;" | 50.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 18,211 | style="text-align: right;" | 14,578 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 55.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.4% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Cork East
| style="text-align: right;" | 62,721 | style="text-align: right;" | 53.1% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,833 | style="text-align: right;" | 14,620 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.4% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Cork North-Central
| style="text-align: right;" | 70,864 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 15,073 | style="text-align: right;" | 15,838 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.8% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 51.2% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Cork North-West
| style="text-align: right;" | 46,369 | style="text-align: right;" | 60.3% | style="text-align: right;" | 14,086 | style="text-align: right;" | 11,787 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 54.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 45.5% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Cork South-Central
| style="text-align: right;" | 82,981 | style="text-align: right;" | 52.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 20,515 | style="text-align: right;" | 21,319 | style="text-align: right;" | 49.1% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 50.9% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Cork South-West
| style="text-align: right;" | 47,439 | style="text-align: right;" | 57.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 14,480 | style="text-align: right;" | 11,104 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 56.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 43.4% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Donegal North-East
| style="text-align: right;" | 51,725 | style="text-align: right;" | 39.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 10,679 | style="text-align: right;" | 8,596 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 55.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.5% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Donegal South-West
| style="text-align: right;" | 50,878 | style="text-align: right;" | 41.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,575 | style="text-align: right;" | 8,339 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 58.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 41.8% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Dublin Central
| style="text-align: right;" | 63,046 | style="text-align: right;" | 34.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,032 | style="text-align: right;" | 9,907 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 52.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 47.3% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Dublin North
| style="text-align: right;" | 62,885 | style="text-align: right;" | 46.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 14,887 | style="text-align: right;" | 13,524 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 52.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 47.6% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Dublin North-Central
| style="text-align: right;" | 65,756 | style="text-align: right;" | 47.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 14,981 | style="text-align: right;" | 15,119 | style="text-align: right;" | 49.8% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 50.2% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Dublin North-East
| style="text-align: right;" | 58,785 | style="text-align: right;" | 42.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 12,123 | style="text-align: right;" | 11,706 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 50.9% | style="text-align: right;" | 49.1% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Dublin North-West
| style="text-align: right;" | 59,677 | style="text-align: right;" | 39.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,780 | style="text-align: right;" | 11,149 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 51.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 48.6% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Dublin South
| style="text-align: right;" | 88,522 | style="text-align: right;" | 50.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 20,171 | style="text-align: right;" | 23,043 | style="text-align: right;" | 46.7% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 53.3% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Dublin South-Central
| style="text-align: right;" | 67,138 | style="text-align: right;" | 42.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 13,684 | style="text-align: right;" | 13,771 | style="text-align: right;" | 49.9% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 50.1% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Dublin South-East
| style="text-align: right;" | 62,149 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,794 | style="text-align: right;" | 15,417 | style="text-align: right;" | 43.4% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 56.6% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Dublin South-West
| style="text-align: right;" | 74,929 | style="text-align: right;" | 34.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 13,554 | style="text-align: right;" | 11,512 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 54.1% | style="text-align: right;" | 45.9% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Dublin West
| style="text-align: right;" | 65,552 | style="text-align: right;" | 40.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 13,070 | style="text-align: right;" | 12,205 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 51.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 48.2% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Dún Laoghaire
| style="text-align: right;" | 85,557 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.9% | style="text-align: right;" | 19,069 | style="text-align: right;" | 21,346 | style="text-align: right;" | 47.2% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 52.8% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Galway East
| style="text-align: right;" | 59,992 | style="text-align: right;" | 51.3% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,019 | style="text-align: right;" | 12,628 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 56.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.0% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Galway West
| style="text-align: right;" | 76,169 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,437 | style="text-align: right;" | 16,239 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 50.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 49.6% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Kerry North
| style="text-align: right;" | 50,742 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,104 | style="text-align: right;" | 10,317 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 51.9% | style="text-align: right;" | 48.1% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Kerry South
| style="text-align: right;" | 46,991 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.3% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,623 | style="text-align: right;" | 9,490 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 55.1% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.9% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Kildare North
| style="text-align: right;" | 50,590 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,371 | style="text-align: right;" | 10,755 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 51.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 48.6% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Kildare South
| style="text-align: right;" | 46,893 | style="text-align: right;" | 42.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 10,284 | style="text-align: right;" | 8,875 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.3% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Laois–Offaly
| style="text-align: right;" | 83,027 | style="text-align: right;" | 49.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 21,083 | style="text-align: right;" | 17,852 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 54.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 45.8% |
| style="background:#ffc8c8;"| Limerick East
| style="text-align: right;" | 75,739 | style="text-align: right;" | 46.9% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,213 | style="text-align: right;" | 17,558 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.1% | style="text-align: right; background:#ffc8c8;" | 51.9% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Limerick West
| style="text-align: right;" | 46,628 | style="text-align: right;" | 52.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 12,106 | style="text-align: right;" | 10,567 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.6% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Longford–Roscommon
| style="text-align: right;" | 62,200 | style="text-align: right;" | 52.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,281 | style="text-align: right;" | 14,268 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.3% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.7% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Louth
| style="text-align: right;" | 70,584 | style="text-align: right;" | 44.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,725 | style="text-align: right;" | 13,191 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 56.0% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.0% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Mayo
| style="text-align: right;" | 85,178 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 21,593 | style="text-align: right;" | 17,366 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 55.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.5% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Meath
| style="text-align: right;" | 88,283 | style="text-align: right;" | 44.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 20,299 | style="text-align: right;" | 16,981 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 54.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 45.5% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Sligo–Leitrim
| style="text-align: right;" | 63,230 | style="text-align: right;" | 50.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,726 | style="text-align: right;" | 13,381 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 55.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.4% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Tipperary North
| style="text-align: right;" | 52,237 | style="text-align: right;" | 54.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 14,140 | style="text-align: right;" | 12,335 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.5% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Tipperary South
| style="text-align: right;" | 50,927 | style="text-align: right;" | 52.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 13,496 | style="text-align: right;" | 11,887 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.8% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Waterford
| style="text-align: right;" | 68,548 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.9% | style="text-align: right;" | 16,369 | style="text-align: right;" | 13,322 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 55.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 44.8% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Westmeath
| style="text-align: right;" | 47,080 | style="text-align: right;" | 48.8% | style="text-align: right;" | 11,600 | style="text-align: right;" | 10,086 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 53.5% | style="text-align: right;" | 46.5% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"| Wexford
| style="text-align: right;" | 82,570 | style="text-align: right;" | 47.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 20,215 | style="text-align: right;" | 16,992 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 54.4% | style="text-align: right;" | 45.6% |
| style="background:#c8ffc8;"|Wicklow
| style="text-align: right;" | 78,149 | style="text-align: right;" | 45.6% | style="text-align: right;" | 17,777 | style="text-align: right;" | 16,305 | style="text-align: right; background:#c8ffc8;" | 52.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 47.8% |
| class="sortbottom" style="font-weight:bold; background:rgb(232,232,232);"
|Total | style="text-align: right;" | 2,688,316 | style="text-align: right;" | 47.2% | style="text-align: right;" | 632,777 | style="text-align: right;" | 569,175 | style="text-align: right;" | 52.7% | style="text-align: right;" | 47.3% |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1997/en/act/cam/0017/index.html Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1997]
- [https://www.oireachtas.ie/index.php/en/bills/bill/1997/38/ Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution (No. 2) Bill 1997], includes Oireachtas debates
- [http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/en/constitution/index.html Full text of the Constitution of Ireland]
{{Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland}}
Category:1997 in Irish politics
Category:Classified information