Amendments To The Constitution of Ireland - Failed Amendments and Missing Numbers

Failed Amendments and Missing Numbers

• Third Amendment Bill (1958): This was a proposal to alter the electoral system for elections to Dáil Éireann from proportional representation under the Single Transferable Vote to the British First Past the Post system. It also proposed to establish an independent commission for the drawing of constituency boundaries on a constitutional basis. It was put to a referendum on 17 June 1959 but was defeated.
• Third Amendment Bill (1968): This proposed to specify more precisely the system of apportionment in the drawing of constituency boundaries. It would have permitted rural constituencies to elect a disproportionate number of TDs (see malapportionment). The proposal was put to a referendum on 16 October 1968 but was rejected.
• Fourth Amendment Bill (1968): This was a second attempt to alter the electoral system by abolishing proportional representation in favour of First Past the Post. It was submitted to a referendum on the same day as the Third Amendment Bill (1968) and was defeated.
• Tenth Amendment Bill (1986): This proposed to remove the constitutional ban on divorce. It was put to a referendum on 26 June 1986 but was defeated. The ban on divorce was eventually lifted by the Fifteenth Amendment in 1996.
• Twelfth Amendment Bill (1992): This proposed to strengthen the constitutional ban on abortion by stating that an abortion could not be procured to protect the health, rather than the life, of the woman, and that risk to the life of the woman from suicide could not be grounds for an abortion. This was put to a referendum on 25 November 1992 but was defeated.
• Twenty-second Amendment Bill (2001): This proposed to establish a body for the investigation of judges and to amend the procedure for the removal of judges. It was not passed by the houses of the Oireachtas.
• Twenty-fourth Amendment Bill (2001): This would have allowed the state to ratify the Treaty of Nice. This was rejected in a referendum on 7 June 2001. Voters reversed this decision when they adopted the Twenty-sixth Amendment in 2002.
• Twenty-fifth Amendment Bill (2002): This was a second attempt to strengthen the constitutional ban on abortion and to prevent risk of suicide being invoked as grounds for an abortion. It was submitted to a referendum on 6 March 2002 but was defeated.
• Twenty-eighth Amendment Bill (2008): This would have allowed the state to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. This was rejected in a referendum on 12 June 2008. Voters reversed this decision when they adopted the Twenty-eighth Amendment in 2009.
• Thirtieth Amendment Bill (2011): This would have allowed both Houses of the Oireachtas to conduct full inquiries into any matter of concern. This amendment was rejected in a referendum on the 27th of October, 2011.