Constitution (Amendment No. 13) Act, 1928

Bills rejected, etc., by Seanad Eireann.

2.—The Constitution shall be and is hereby amended by the insertion therein of the following Article immediately after Article 38 now contained therein, that is to say:—

“38A. Whenever a Bill (not being a Money Bill) initiated in and passed by Dáil Eireann and sent to Seanad Eireann is within the stated period hereinafter defined either rejected by Seanad Eireann or passed by Seanad Eireann with amendments to which Dáil Eireann does not agree or is neither passed (with or without amendment) nor rejected by Seanad Eireann within the said stated period, Dáil Eireann may within one year after the said stated period by resolution expressly passed under this Article again send such Bill to Seanad Eireann in the form (save only for such modifications as are hereinafter authorised) in which it was first so sent, and if Seanad Eireann does not, within sixty days thereafter or such longer period as may be agreed to by both Houses, pass such Bill either without amendment or with such amendments only as are agreed to by Dáil Eireann, such Bill shall, if Dáil Eireann so resolves after the expiration of such sixty days or longer period aforesaid, be deemed to have been passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas at the expiration of the said sixty days or longer period aforesaid in the form in which it was so last sent to Seanad Eireann with such (if any) amendments as may have been made therein by Seanad Eireann and agreed to by Dáil Eireann.

The said stated period is the period commencing on the day on which the said Bill is first sent by Dáil Eireann to Seanad Eireann and ending at whichever of the following times is the earlier, that is to say, the expiration of eighteen months from the commencement of the said period or the date of the reassembly of the Oireachtas after a dissolution occurring after the commencement of such period.

When a Bill initiated in and passed by Seanad Eireann is amended by Dáil Eireann, such Bill shall be deemed to have been initiated in Dáil Eireann and this Article shall apply to such Bill accordingly and for the purpose of such application the said stated period shall in relation to such Bill commence on the day on which such Bill is first sent to Seanad Eireann after being so amended by Dáil Eireann.

Whenever a Bill has been sent by Dáil Eireann to Seanad Eireann nothing in this Article shall operate to restrict the right of Dáil Eireann to send such Bill on any subsequent occasion to Seanad Eireann otherwise than under this Article, and when such Bill is so sent to Seanad Eireann this Article shall apply as if such subsequent occasion were the first occasion on which such Bill was sent by Dáil Eireann to Seanad Eireann.

A Bill sent a second time by Dáil Eireann to Seanad Eireann and required for the purposes of this Article to be in the form in which it was first so sent may contain such (if any) modifications as shall be certified by the Chairman of Dáil Eireann to represent amendments made therein by Seanad Eireann and agreed to by Dáil Eireann or to be necessary owing to the lapse of time since such Bill was first sent by Dáil Eireann to Seanad Eireann.”