The Constitution of Ireland has been amended 32 times since its adoption in 1937. Numerous other amendment bills have been introduced in Dáil Éireann but were not enacted.[1] These include government bills passed by the Dáil and Seanad but rejected at referendum; bills which the government introduced but later decided not to proceed with; and the rest were private member's bills (PMBs), usually introduced by opposition TDs. No amendment PMBs passed second stage until 2015.[2]
| Title | Year | Type | Proposer | Stage reached | Subject, notes | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Third | 1941 | PMB | Second stage (defeated) | Judges process for impeachment; make more rigorous by requiring two-thirds majority resolution of each House; extend protection from Supreme Court and High Court to lower-court judges | [3] | ||
| 1958 | Referendum (defeated on 17 June 1959) | Elections to the Dáil Replace single transferable vote (STV) system with single-member plurality voting (first past the post, FPTP). Also proposed an independent boundary commission for constituencies. The main proposal similar to the 1968 fourth-amendment bill. | [4] [5] | ||||
| 1968 | Fianna Fáil | Referendum (defeated on 16 October 1968) | Elections to the Dáil: Specified a degree of malapportionment in favour of rural constituencies over urban constituencies. | [6] | |||
| 1968 | Government | Fianna Fáil | Referendum (defeated on 16 October 1968) | Elections to the Dáil: Replace STV with FPTP for Dáil elections. Similar to main proposal of the 1958 bill. | [7] | ||
| Fourth | 1972 | PMB | First stage (defeated) | Elections: Lower voting age from 21 to 18. Accomplished by the government-sponsored Fourth Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1972. | [8] | ||
| Sixth | 1978 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (defeated) | Rights of children: To facilitate adoptions whose legality had been questioned, and to abolish illegitimacy. The government-sponsored Sixth Amendment passed in 1979 addressed the adoption issue; the Status of Children Act 1987 addressed illegitimacy; the Thirty-first Amendment provided rights for children. | [9] | |
| Eighth | 1980 | PMB | First stage (defeated) | Divorce: Permit by deleting Article 41.3.2° and 41.3.3°. Divorce was eventually permitted by the 15th amendment in 1996. | [10] | ||
| Eighth (Divorce) | 1982 | PMB | First stage (lapsed) | Divorce: Relax ban. This was eventually lifted by the 15th amendment in 1996. | [11] | ||
| Eighth (Divorce) | 1983 | PMB | Workers' Party | First stage (defeated) | Divorce: Relax ban. This was eventually lifted by the 15th amendment in 1996. | [12] | |
| Tenth (Divorce) | 1984 | PMB | Workers' Party | First stage (defeated) | Divorce: Relax ban. This was eventually lifted by the 15th amendment in 1996. | [13] | |
| Tenth | 1985 | PMB | Fine Gael (Michael O'Leary) | First stage (defeated) | Divorce: Relax ban. O'Leary was a government backbencher. His move prompted the government to introduce its own bill. | [14] | |
| Tenth (No. 2) | 1985 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (defeated) | Divorce: Relax ban. Labour's coalition partner Fine Gael opposed the bill; a government-sponsored divorce amendment was rejected at referendum later in 1986. | [15] | |
| 1986 | Fine Gael–Labour | Referendum (defeated on 26 June 1986) | Divorce: Relax ban. This was eventually lifted by the 15th amendment in 1996. | [16] | |||
| Eleventh | 1990 | PMB | Workers' Party | Second stage (defeated) | Amend Articles 2 and 3 to weaken the irredentist claim to Northern Ireland. The Nineteenth Amendment in 1999 amended the articles in a similar manner as part of the Northern Ireland peace process. | [17] | |
| Eleventh | 1991 | PMB | Fine Gael | Second stage (lapsed) | Elections: enable Irish emigrants to elect three members of the Seanad. | [18] [19] | |
| Eleventh (No. 2) | 1991 | PMB | Workers' Party | Second stage (lapsed) | Allow abolition of ground rents | [20] [21] [22] [23] | |
| Eleventh (No. 3) | 1991 | PMB | Fine Gael | Second stage (defeated) | Rights of women affirmatively recognise rights of women in section on equality. | [24] | |
| Eleventh (No. 4) | 1991 | PMB | Fine Gael | Second stage (lapsed) | Bail laws | [25] | |
| Eleventh | 1992 | PMB | Second stage (lapsed) | [26] | |||
| Eleventh | 1992 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (defeated) | Abortion allow freedom to information and travel | [27] | |
| 1992 | Referendum (defeated on 25 November 1992) | Abortion Partially reverse the X Case decision by removing risk of suicide as grounds for an abortion. | [28] | ||||
| Fifteenth | 1995 | PMB | Fianna Fáil | Second stage (defeated) | Restrict right to bail. Accomplished by the government-sponsored Sixteenth Amendment in 1996. | [29] | |
| Seventeenth | 1997 | PMB | Progressive Democrats | Second stage (lapsed) | Election of President Allow nominating petitions | [30] | |
| Eighteenth | 1997 | PMB | Fine Gael | Second stage (lapsed) | Election of President Allow nominating petitions by 20,000 voters | [31] | |
| Twentieth | 1999 | PMB | Second stage (lapsed) | Lower the age of eligibility for TDs from 21 to 18. | [32] | ||
| Twenty-first | 1999 | PMB | Second stage (lapsed) | Neutrality | [33] | ||
| Twenty-first (No. 2) | 1999 | PMB | Greens | Second stage (lapsed) | [34] | ||
| Twenty-first (No. 3) | 1999 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (defeated) | [35] | ||
| Twenty-first (No. 4) | 1999 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (lapsed) | Rights: Prohibits "unfair discrimination" and permits positive discrimination. | [36] | |
| Twenty-first (No. 5) | 1999 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (lapsed) | [37] | ||
| 2001 | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats | Committee stage (lapsed) | Judges | [38] | |||
| 2001 | Government | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats | Referendum (defeated on 7 June 2001) | European Union: Ratify the Treaty of Nice. The Twenty-sixth Amendment in 2002 passed referendum and accomplished this. | [39] | ||
| Twenty-fourth | 2002 | PMB | Labour | First stage (withdrawn) | Neutrality amend Article 29 to allow the state to participate in UN operations but not to join any military alliance. Withdrawn when the Twenty-sixth Amendment included an opt-out from the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy. | [40] | |
| Twenty-fifth | 2001 | PMB | Second stage (lapsed) | Neutrality forbid the state from joining any military alliance | [41] | ||
| 2001 | Government | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats | Referendum (defeated on 6 March 2002) | Abortion: Partially reverse the X Case decision by removing risk of suicide as grounds for an abortion, and specify the legal grounds for abortion. | [42] | ||
| Twenty-seventh | 2003 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | Neutrality affirms neutrality, forbids the state from joining any military alliance; war may only be declared by the Dáil. | [43] | |
| Twenty-seventh (No. 2) | 2003 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | [44] | ||
| 2005 | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats | First stage (lapsed) | European Union: Ratify the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. The government did not proceed with the amendment when the Treaty was abandoned after it was rejected by France and the Netherlands at referendums. | [45] | |||
| Twenty-eighth | 2006 | PMB | Labour | Second stage (lapsed) | [46] | ||
| Twenty-eighth (No. 2) | 2006 | PMB | Greens | Second stage (lapsed) | Elections: Lower age of candidacy for Dáil and presidential elections | [47] | |
| Twenty eighth (No. 3) | 2006 | PMB | Greens | Second stage (lapsed) | Presidency | [48] | |
| Twenty-eighth | 2007 | Government | Fianna Fáil–Progressive Democrats | Second stage (lapsed) | Rights of children, insertion of a new article. The 2012 31st amendment covers similar ground. | [49] | |
| 2008 | Fianna Fáil–Greens–Progressive Democrats | Referendum (defeated on 12 June 2008) | European Union: Ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. This was achieved with the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which passed in a referendum the following year. | [50] | |||
| Twenty-ninth | 2008 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (lapsed) | Rights relating to trade unions | [51] | |
| Twenty-ninth | 2009 | PMB | Fine Gael | Second stage (lapsed) | Judges Ease the restriction on reducing judges' pay. This was achieved by the Twenty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which was passed in a referendum in 2011. | [52] | |
| Twenty-ninth | 2011 | PMB | Greens | Second stage (lapsed) | Defines "economic treason". | [53] | |
| Twenty-ninth (No.2) | 2011 | PMB | Fianna Fáil | Second stage (defeated) | Allow only individual voters to make political donations. | [54] | |
| Twenty-ninth (No.3) | 2011 | PMB | Fianna Fáil | Second stage (defeated) | Allow for the adoption of any child. Achieved by the Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland passed by referendum in 2012 | [55] | |
| 2011 | Fine Gael–Labour | Referendum (defeated on 27 October 2011) | Oireachtas: overturn the 2002 John Carthy verdict limiting the power of Oireachtas inquiries. | [56] | |||
| Thirty-first (The President) | 2011 | PMB | Technical group (Catherine Murphy) | Second stage (defeated) | Presidency ease ballot access by reducing the qualifying number of Oireachtas members and allowing nominating petitions; remove reference to "proportional representation"; reduce the term from seven to five years | [57] | |
| Thirty-first (Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) | 2012 | PMB | Labour (Kevin Humphreys) | Second stage (lapsed) | [58] | ||
| Thirty-second (Dáil Éireann) | 2012 | PMB | Fine Gael (Brendan Griffin) | Second stage (lapsed) | Dáil Éireann to comprise 100 single-member constituencies by instant-runoff voting (plus the Ceann Comhairle) | [59] | |
| 2013 | Fine Gael–Labour | Referendum (defeated on 4 October 2013) | Oireachtas Abolish Seanad Éireann. | [60] | |||
| Thirty-fourth (Judicial Appointments) | 2013 | PMB | Technical group (Shane Ross) | Second stage (defeated) | Judges: establish a non-political body to nominate judges, subject to Oireachtas ratification | [61] | |
| Thirty-fourth (Neutrality) | 2013 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | Neutrality declaration of neutrality and forbidding the state from joining any military alliance | [62] | |
| Thirty-fourth (No. 3) | 2014 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | [63] | ||
| Thirty-fourth (Right to Personal Autonomy and Bodily Integrity) | 2014 | PMB | Technical group (Clare Daly) | Second stage (defeated) | [64] | ||
| Thirty-fourth (Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas) | 2014 | PMB | Technical group (Peter Mathews) | Second stage (defeated) | Oireachtas: loosen the party whip system | [65] | |
| Thirty-fourth (Peace and Neutrality) | 2014 | PMB | Technical group (Mick Wallace) | Second stage (defeated) | Neutrality | [66] | |
| Thirty-fourth | 2014 | PMB | Technical group (Socialist Party) | Second stage (defeated) | Abortion | [67] | |
| Thirty-fourth (Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) | 2014 | PMB | Technical Group (Thomas Pringle) | Second stage (defeated) | Rights: Guarantee economic, social and cultural rights[68] | ||
| 2015 | Fine Gael–Labour | Referendum (defeated on 22 May 2015) | Presidency reduce age of candidacy from 35 to 21 | [69] | |||
| Thirty-fourth (Voting Rights in Referenda) | 2014 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (lapsed) | Election of President allow emigrants to vote | [70] | |
| Thirty-fourth (No. 2) | 2014 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Committee stage (lapsed) | Elections: Lower voting age from 18 to 16. | [71] | |
| Thirty-fourth (Dáil Éireann) | 2015 | PMB | Fine Gael (Brendan Griffin) | Second stage (lapsed) | Dáil Éireann to comprise 158 single-member constituencies; eliminate single transferable vote requirement | [72] | |
| Thirty-fifth (Fixed Period for the Duration of Dáil Éireann) | 2015 | PMB | Technical group (Shane Ross) | Second stage (lapsed) | Dáil Éireann fixed term of five years | [73] | |
| Thirty-fifth (Repeal of the Eighth Amendment) | 2016 | PMB | Second stage (defeated) | Abortion repeal the Eighth Amendment, which guarantees the "right to life of the unborn". A motion was passed rejecting the bill, to allow the Citizens' Assembly to consider the issue. | [74] | ||
| Thirty-fifth (Neutrality) | 2016 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | Neutrality prohibit assisting foreign preparations for war without the consent of the Dáil, and prohibit joining any military alliance. A motion was passed rejecting the bill "to protect the authority of the Executive to conduct external relations" and affirming existing neutrality provisions and policies. | [75] | |
| Thirty-fifth (Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) | 2016 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | [76] | ||
| Thirty-fifth (Right to Housing) | 2017 | PMB | Second stage (defeated) | [77] | |||
| Thirty-eighth (Neutrality) | 2018 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | Neutrality prohibit involvement in any war unless "immediately necessary in defence of the State". | [78] | |
| Thirty-fifth (Right to a Home) | 2016 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | [79] | ||
| Thirty-fifth (Common Ownership of Water Resources) | 2016 | PMB | Greens | Second stage (lapsed) | [80] | ||
| Thirty-fifth (Public Ownership of Certain Assets) | 2016 | PMB | Labour (Willie Penrose) | Second stage (lapsed) | [81] | ||
| Thirty-fifth (Protection of Pension Property Rights) | 2017 | PMB | Fianna Fáil (Willie O'Dea) | Second stage (lapsed) | Prohibit taxing of private pension savings (such as had been done from 2011 to 2016 during the post-2008 austerity). | [82] | |
| Thirty-fifth (Blasphemy) | 2017 | PMB | Second stage (lapsed) | Religion: remove the constitution's requirement to criminalise blasphemy. Effected by the 37th amendment in 2018 | [83] | ||
| Thirty-fifth (Separation of Church and State) | 2017 | PMB | Solidarity–PBP | Second stage (lapsed) | [84] | ||
| Thirty-ninth (Right to Housing) | 2019 | PMB | Independent (Tommy Broughan) | Second stage (lapsed) | [85] | ||
| Thirty-Ninth (Right to Health) | 2019 | PMB | Rural Independents (Michael Harty) | Second stage (defeated) | [86] | ||
| Thirty-fourth (Inclusive Budget Reform) | 2014 | PMB | Sinn Féin | Second stage (defeated) | Repeal the requirement that measures incurring public spending can only be proposed by the government | [87] | |
| Thirty-Ninth (Neutrality) | 2022 | PMB | Solidarity–PBP | Second stage (defeated) | Neutrality "non-membership of military alliances" and no transit to warzones of foreign "material or personnel" | [88] | |
| 2023 | Fine Gael–Fianna Fáil–Green | Referendum (defeated on 8 March 2024) | Family: extend protection to non-marital families | [89] [90] | |||
| 2023 | Government | Fine Gael–Fianna Fáil–Green | Referendum (defeated on 8 March 2024) | Family: replace reference to "woman['s] ... duties in the home" with reference to "the provision of care, by members of a family to one another" | [91] [92] |
A new bill to amend the constitution is usually named with the ordinal number next after that of the last amendment passed. Multiple pending bills will often use the same number, and be distinguished by year of introduction and/or a parenthetical number or description. However, if the government introduces multiple bills, these are numbered consecutively. There are several gaps in the numbering of passed amendments, corresponding to government bills which did not pass: