The Referendum Act 1998 (No. 1/1998) is an act of the

Oireachtas The Oireachtas ( ; ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the president of Ireland and the two houses of the Oireachtas (): a house ...

which modified how referendums are carried out in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The act was necessary following the McKenna case in which the

Supreme Court of Ireland The Supreme Court of Ireland () is the highest judicial authority in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the Court of Appeal (Ireland), Court of Appeal and the High Court (Ireland), Hig ...

held that the spending of public money in support of the campaign for a government-approved outcome of a constitutional referendum was unconstitutional. To rectify the imbalance, this act was introduced. Its main provision was to provide for the establishment of a

Referendum Commission A Referendum Commission () was an independent statutory body in Ireland which had been set up in advance of referendums in Ireland from 1998 to 2019. The Referendum Act 1998 as amended by the Referendum Act 2001 provided for the establishment of ...

prior to each future referendum.

External links

* 1998 in Irish law Acts of the Oireachtas of the 1990s {{Ireland-law-stub