Referendum Commission: Politicians should be "moderate, accurate and careful" in their comments on the referendum debate, the chairman of the Referendum Commission, Mr Justice Kearns, said yesterday.
Some 2.3 million booklets will be sent to every household in the State within the next week by the Referendum Commission. The booklets will explain the subject matter of the proposed amendment, and will not outline the arguments for and against it.
This follows an amendment to the 1998 Referendum Act, which had provided for a Referendum Commission to outline both sides of the argument in referendums.
However, since the 2001 Act was passed, this function was changed to explain the matter in a general way, promote public awareness of the referendum and encourage the electorate to vote.
The explanation of the issues is now left up to those arguing for and against the proposed constitutional change, and voters are referred to the media for these arguments. "I would hope public representatives would be moderate, accurate and careful in their comments during the debate," Mr Justice Kearns said.
Under the legislation the commission comes into being when an order is made as part of initiating a referendum Bill in the Dáil. Mr Justice Kearns pointed to the reports from previous commissions which expressed the view that more time was desirable to enable them to do their work adequately.
The commission has been allocated €4 million to carry out its work, which began on April 24th, and will end when the votes are cast, the commission writes its report and is dissolved.
"We have a Mayfly existence," the chairman quipped at a briefing to journalists yesterday.
Almost €1 million of the budget will go to An Post, which will distribute the booklets to every household.
Most of the rest will go on printing and advertising, which is being co-ordinated by McConnells advertising agency. The advertisements are being shown, not only on all RTÉ radio and television stations, but non-Irish stations, such as MTV, that have dedicated Irish advertising.
The commission will also have slots on RTÉ to explain the referendum, similar to party political broadcasts. These will be broadcast at peak times, such as before the 6 p.m. news.
The commission has also carried out research to help it target the information in the booklet. This showed that there is a degree of confusion among the electorate.
The main areas of confusion were;
the distinction between the constitutional guarantee of the right to Irish citizenship and the legislation governing citizenship;
the idea that the referendum was somehow linked to EU enlargement;
the fact that some people thought a No vote would mean no to allowing the automatic right to citizenship to all children born in Ireland. In fact, a No vote would be to retain the status quo, which maintains this right.
This proposal for a constitutional amendment has been accompanied by the publication of a draft Bill. However, unlike the abortion referendum, where the text of the referendum linked the Constitution to a specific Bill on abortion, this referendum does not mean that the proposed Bill will then pass into law.
It can be substantially amended following the referendum (if the amendment is passed), and there will be a debate on it. It can also be further amended later without any reference to the Constitution.
Therefore the Referendum Commission cannot make any reference to the proposals contained in the Bill. Its booklet explains who is entitled to be a citizen at the moment, what the constitutional right to citizenship means, how legislation sets out citizenship rights, and how this will be changed by the referendum.
It quotes Article 2 (which grants the right to citizenship to all those born on the island of Ireland, and is not being amended) and Article 9, which deals with citizenship and is being amended, along with the proposed change.
The commission has published a braille and an audio version of its information, and one in Irish sign language.