Chapter IV: Section II: Legislative Provisions

A.--THE LEGISLATURE.

ARTICLE 12.

A Legislature is hereby created to be known as Parliament/Oireachtas of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann. It shall consist of the King and two Houses: the Chamber of Deputies/Dail Eireann and the Senate/Seanad Eireann. The power of making laws for the peace, order and good government of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann is vested in the Parliament/Oireachtas.

ARTICLE 13.

The Parliament/Oireachtas shall sit in or near the city of Dublin or in such other place as from time to time it may determine.

ARTICLE 14.

All citizens of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann without distinction of sex who have reached the age of twenty-one years and who comply with the provisions of the prevailing electoral laws, shall have the right to vote for members of the Chamber of Deputies/Dail Eireann, and to take part in the Referendum or Initiative. All citizens of the Irish Free State/Saorstat Eireann without distinction of sex who have reached the age of thirty years and who comply with the provisions of the prevailing electoral laws, shall have the right to vote for members of the Senate/Seanad Eireann. No voter may exercise more than one vote and the voting shall be by secret ballot. The mode and place of exercising this right shall be determined by law.

ARTICLE 15.

Every citizen who has reached the age of twenty-one years and who is not placed under disability or incapacity by the Constitution or by law shall be eligible to become a member of the Chamber of Deputies/Dail Eireann.

ARTICLE 16.

No person may be at the same time a member both of the Chamber/Dail Eireann and of the Senate/Seanad Eireann.

ARTICLE 17.

The oath to be taken by Members of Parliament/Oireachtas shall be in the following form:--

I ........................ do solemnly swear true faith and
allegiance to the Constitution of the Irish Free State as by law
established, and that I will be faithful to H.M. King George V., his
heirs and successors by law in virtue of the common citizenship of
Ireland with Great Britain and her adherence to and membership of the
group of nations forming the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Such oath shall be taken and subscribed by every member of the Parliament/Oireachtas before taking his seat therein before the Representative of the Crown or some person authorised by him.

ARTICLE 18.

Every member of the Parliament/Oireachtas shall, except in case of treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest in going to and returning from, and while within the precincts of either House, and shall not be amenable to any action or proceeding at law in respect of any utterance in either House.

ARTICLE 19.

All reports and publications of the Parliament/Oireachtas or of either House thereof shall be privileged and utterances made in either House wherever published shall be privileged.

ARTICLE 20.

Each House shall make its own rules and Standing Orders, with power to attach penalties for their infringement and shall have power to ensure freedom of debate, to protect its official documents and the private papers of its members, and to protect itself and its members against any person or persons interfering with, molesting or attempting to corrupt its members in the exercise of their duties.

ARTICLE 21.

Each House shall elect its own Chairman and Deputy Chairman and shall prescribe their powers, duties, and terms of office.

ARTICLE 22.

All matters in each House shall, save as otherwise provided by this Constitution, be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present other than the Chairman or presiding member, who shall have and exercise a casting vote in the case of an equality of votes. The number of members necessary to constitute a meeting of either House for the exercise of its powers shall be determined by its Standing Orders.

ARTICLE 23.

The Parliament/Oireachtas shall make provision for the payment of its members and may in addition provide them with free travelling facilities in any part of Ireland.

ARTICLE 24.

The Parliament/Oireachtas shall hold at least one session each year. The Parliament/Oireachtas shall be summoned and dissolved by the Representative of the Crown in the name of the King and subject as aforesaid the Chamber/Dail Eireann shall fix the date of re-assembly of the Parliament/Oireachtas and the date of the conclusion of the session of each House provided that the sessions of the Senate/Seanad Eireann shall not be concluded without its own consent.

ARTICLE 25.

Sittings of each House of the Parliament/Oireachtas shall be public. In cases of special emergency either House may hold a private sitting with the assent of two-thirds of the members present.