The Oireachtas (English: Legislature) is the 'National Parliament' of the Republic of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of the President of Ireland and two houses: Dáil Éireann ('House of Representatives') and Seanad Éireann ('Senate').
To become law a bill must theoretically first be approved by both the Dáil and the Senate, and then signed into law by the President. In most circumstances, however, the President is obliged to sign all laws approved by the Houses of the Oireachtas, and the powers of the Senate are limited to delay rather than veto. It is the Dáil, therefore, that is the supreme branch of the legislature.
Under the Constitution of Ireland the Oireachtas has exclusive power to:
- Legislate, including approving the budget (it may, however, create subordinate legislatures, although this power has yet to be invoked).
- Propose changes to the constitution, which must then be submitted to a referendum.
- Raise military or armed forces.
- Allow international agreements to become part of the domestic law of the state.
- Pass certain laws having extra-territorial effect (in accordance with the similar practices of other states).
- Enact, when it considers a state of emergency to exist, almost any law it deems necessary.
The authority of the Oireachtas is, however, subject to certain limitations:
- Its laws are invalid if, and to the extent that, they contradict the constitution.
- It may not retrospectively criminalise acts that were not illegal at the time they were committed.
- It may not enact any law providing for the imposition of the death penalty, even during a state of emergency.
- Under Article 3 of the constitution, the laws of the Oireachtas apply only to the twenty-six counties of the Republic of Ireland and not to Northern Ireland.
Today the 'exclusive' right of the Oireachtas to legislate for the Republic of Ireland is shared with the European Union.
The Free State Oireachtas
'Oireachtas' is the Irish Gaelic for 'legislature' and was also the title of the parliament of the 1922-1937 Irish Free State. The Oireachtas of the Irish Free State consisted officially of the King of Ireland and two houses named, like their successors, Dáil Éireann (translated, in this case, as 'Chamber of Deputies') and Seanad Éireann.
The legislature of the 1919-1922 Irish Republic was a unicameral parliament know simply as Dáil Éireann (translated as 'Assembly of Ireland').
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An oireachtas is also an important competition in Irish dance.