Amendment 17

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Seventeenth Amendment

Signed 14th Nov, 1997

Provided that the confidentiality of discussions at meetings of the Government would be respected save only where the High Court, in certain specified circumstances, determined that disclosure should be made.

Article Amended

Article 28 After

The text of Article 28 after enacting the Seventeenth Amendment

Article 28.

…

1:
The Government shall consist of not less than seven and not more than fifteen members who shall be appointed by the President in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
2:
The executive power of the State shall, subject to the provisions of this Constitution, be exercised by or on the authority of the Government.
3:
1. 1°:
  War shall not be declared and the State shall not participate in any war save with the assent of Dáil Éireann.
2. 2°:
  In the case of actual invasion, however, the Government may take whatever steps they may consider necessary for the protection of the State, and Dáil Éireann if not sitting shall be summoned to meet at the earliest practicable date.
3. 3°:
  Nothing in this Constitution shall be invoked to invalidate any law enacted by the Oireachtas which is expressed to be for the purpose of securing the public safety and the preservation of the State in time of war or armed rebellion, or to nullify any act done or purporting to be done in time of war or armed rebellion in pursuance of any such law. In this sub-section ‘time of war’ includes a time when there is taking place an armed conflict in which the State is not a participant but in respect of which each of the Houses of the Oireachtas shall have resolved that, arising out of such armed conflict, a national emergency exists affecting the vital interests of the State and "time of war or armed rebellion" includes such time after the termination of any war, or of any such armed conflict as aforesaid, or of an armed rebellion, as may elapse until each of the Houses of the Oireachtas shall have resolved that the national emergency occasioned by such war, armed conflict, or armed rebellion has ceased to exist.
4:
1. 1°:
  The Government shall be responsible to Dáil Éireann.
2. 2°:
  The Government shall meet and act as a collective authority, and shall be collectively responsible for the Departments of State administered by the members of the Government.
3. 3°:
  ADD
  
  add subsection "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—
  1. i:
    in the interests of the administration of justice by a Court, or
  2. 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.
4. 4°:
  
  RENUMBER
  
  renumber from 28.4.3°
  
  The Government shall prepare Estimates of the Receipts and Estimates of the Expenditure of the State for each financial year, and shall present them to Dáil Éireann for consideration.
5:
1. 1°:
  The head of the Government, or Prime Minister, shall be called, and is in this Constitution referred to as, the Taoiseach.
2. 2°:
  The Taoiseach shall keep the President generally informed on matters of domestic and international policy.
6:
1. 1°:
  The Taoiseach shall nominate a member of the Government to be the Tánaiste.
2. 2°:
  The Tánaiste shall act for all purposes in the place of the Taoiseach if the Taoiseach should die, or become permanently incapacitated, until a new Taoiseach shall have been appointed.
3. 3°:
  The Tánaiste shall also act for or in the place of the Taoiseach during the temporary absence of the Taoiseach.
7:
1. 1°:
  The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the member of the Government who is in charge of the Department of Finance must be members of Dáil Éireann.
2. 2°:
  The other members of the Government must be members of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann, but not more than two may be members of Seanad Éireann.
8:
Every member of the Government shall have the right to attend and be heard in each House of the Oireachtas.
9:
1. 1°:
  The Taoiseach may resign from office at any time by placing his resignation in the hands of the President.
2. 2°:
  Any other member of the Government may resign from office by placing his resignation in the hands of the Taoiseach for submission to the President.
3. 3°:
  The President shall accept the resignation of a member of the Government, other than the Taoiseach, if so advised by the Taoiseach.
4. 4°:
  The Taoiseach may at any time, for reasons which to him seem sufficient, request a member of the Government to resign; should the member concerned fail to comply with the request, his appointment shall be terminated by the President if the Taoiseach so advises.
10:
The Taoiseach shall resign from office upon his ceasing to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann unless on his advice the President dissolves Dáil Éireann and on the reassembly of Dáil Éireann after the dissolution the Taoiseach secures the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann.
11:
1. 1°:
  If the Taoiseach at any time resigns from office the other members of the Government shall be deemed also to have resigned from office, but the Taoiseach and the other members of the Government shall continue to carry on their duties until their successors shall have been appointed.
2. 2°:
  The members of the Government in office at the date of a dissolution of Dáil Éireann shall continue to hold office until their successors shall have been appointed.
12:
The following matters shall be regulated in accordance with law, namely, the organization of, and distribution of business amongst, Departments of State, the designation of members of the Government to be the Ministers in charge of the said Departments, the discharge of the functions of the office of a member of the Government during his temporary absence or incapacity, and the remuneration of the members of the Government.