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Report of the Task Force on Implementation of the Recommendations of the Second Report of the Convention on the Constitution

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Report of the Task Force on Implementation of the Recommendations of the Second Report of the Convention on the Constitution 1 Contents Page Extract from Constitution of Ireland 3 Chapter 1 – Introduction 4 Chapter 2 – Historical background 9 Chapter 3 – Amending Article 41.2 and considering what level of obligation 12 should be placed on the State to support carers Chapter 4 –Incorporation of the principle of gender equality 18 into the Constitution Chapter 5 –Include gender-neutral language throughout 21 the Constitution Chapter 6 – Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations 23 Appendix I: Texts 25 Appendix II: The Second Report of the Convention on the Constitution 27 2 Extract from Constitution of Ireland The Family Article 41 1. 1° The State recognises the Family as the natural primary and fundamental unit group of Society, and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law. 2° The State, therefore, guarantees to protect the Family in its constitution and authority, as the necessary basis of social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State. 2. 1° In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved. 2° The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home. 3 Chapter 1 Introduction The Convention on the Constitution 1.1 The Programme for Government contains a commitment to establish a Constitutional Convention to consider comprehensive constitutional reform. The question of amending the clause on women in the home was among the specific issues to be addressed. 1.2 The Houses of the Oireachtas, by Resolution dated July 2012, approved the calling of a Convention on the Constitution to consider specified matters including amending the clause on the role of women in the home and encouraging greater participation of women in public life and to make such recommendations as it saw fit, reporting back to the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Government was tasked with providing its response to each recommendation of the Convention in the Oireachtas within four months and, if accepting the recommendation, indicating the timeframe it envisaged for the holding of any related referendum. 1.3 The Convention on the Constitution was constituted as a forum of 100 people representative of Irish society and parliamentarians from the island of Ireland with an independent Chairman. Recommendations of the Convention on the Constitution 1.4 The Convention on the Constitution considered the role of women, women in public life and in politics at its plenary meeting of 16-17 February 2013, during which the Convention considered submissions made by members of the public and presentations from a wide range of academics, political scientists, legal experts and advocacy groups. 1.5 The outcome of the discussion in the Convention and its recommendations are set out in its Second Report, as presented to the Houses of the Oireachtas and published on 8 May 2013. The Report deals both with the clause in the Constitution on the role of women in the home (Article 41.2) and with steps which might be taken to increase the participation of women in public and political life. The Convention recommended amending Article 41.2 and also made recommendations proposing the incorporation of the principle of gender equality into the Constitution and calling for gender-inclusive language in the Constitution arising from the discussion on increasing the participation of women in politics and encouraging greater participation of women in public life. 4 1.6 The main points discussed were as follows: Most members of the Constitutional Convention favoured amending, rather than deleting, Article 41.2. (In this regard, their recommendations are in keeping with those of earlier examinations of the issue by the Constitution Review Group in 1996, the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in its First Progress Report in 1997, and the Tenth Progress Report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution on the Family in 2006.) In making a change to Article 41.2, a substantial majority (92%) recommended that it should be made gender-neutral, to include other carers in the home. A narrower majority (62%) also wanted it to include other carers beyond the home. On a five point scale, the Convention also recommended that the State should offer a “reasonable level of support” (35%) to ensure that mothers and other carers ‘shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour’. A significant majority (89%) also recommended that the Constitution as a whole should be amended to include gender-inclusive language throughout the text. A majority of members (62%) also wanted to see the Constitution amended to include an explicit provision on gender equality. 1.7 In effect, the Convention made three recommendations in respect of Article 41.2, and two supplementary recommendations. These recommendations do not consider how amendments might be phrased but instead are focused on the intended outcome, as follows: To amend Article 41.2 by making it gender-neutral to include other carers in the home; To also include other carers beyond the home; That the State should offer a “reasonable level of support” to ensure that carers “shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour”; To amend the Constitution to include an explicit provision on gender equality; and To amend the Constitution as a whole to include gender-inclusive language throughout the text. Government Response 1.8 The Government accepted the Convention’s first recommendation in relation to the need to amend the language in Article 41.2 of the Constitution on the role of women in the home. Mindful that a number of wordings have been proposed previously in this regard, (the Constitution Review Group in 1996, the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in its First Progress Report in 1997, and the Tenth Progress Report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution on the Family in 2006), the Government committed to examining these proposals and other options with a view to 5 finding the most appropriate wording to present in a future referendum, while taking full account of the Convention’s comments in relation to carers. 1.9 Concerning the other Recommendations of the Convention, the Government considered that the incorporation of the principle of gender equality into the Constitution and that the text of the Constitution be amended to include gender-inclusive language throughout had merit but that the proposals required further detailed examination. Accordingly, the Government tasked the Department of Justice and Equality to undertake a study before it considered these recommendations further1. 1.10 The Minister for Justice and Equality delivered the Government’s response to the Convention’s Second Report in the Dáil on 10 October 2013, and gave the following commitment: “...The Government accepts the first recommendation of the report in relation to the need to amend the language in Article 41.2 of the Constitution on the role of women in the home. Government is mindful that a number of wordings have been proposed previously and commits to examine the proposals and other options to find the most appropriate wording to present in a forthcoming referendum. Full account will be taken of the comments of the convention, including those on carers. The inclusion of a reference by the convention to the issue of carers is the reason why it is not possible to offer a more specific timeframe for a referendum to take on board the overarching recommendation at this time. Extensive consultations will be necessary, including with Government colleagues and their officials, on the new elements and the appropriate choice of language for incorporation into the Constitution. I am establishing a task force in my Department to look at the issues, collaborating with other Departments and the Office of the Attorney General as necessary, with a view to completing the task and reporting back to Government by 31 October 2014...” Establishment and work programme of Task Force 1.11 The Task Force subsequently established by the Minister for Justice and Equality was charged with collaborating with other Government Departments and the Office of the Attorney General as necessary, with a view to completing its tasks so that the Minister could report back to Government on the issues arising. 1 Statement by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Mr Alan Shatter TD, to the Dáil on 10 October 2013, on the matter of the Second Report of the Convention on the Constitution. Dáil Éireann Official Report Vol.816 No.3. 6 1.12 The terms of reference for the Task Force are: To examine proposals which have been made for the amendment of Article 41.2 of the Constitution as well as other options with a view to finding the most appropriate wording to present in a forthcoming referendum taking full account of the comments of the Convention including those in relation to carers. To consider the cost implications of any proposal put forward for a replacement text with a view to ensuring that no unforeseen additional financial cost is placed on the Exchequer on foot of any proposed change. To assist in the further detailed examination of the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention that the principle
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