A senior official in the President’s office has said it is open to any individual citizen to challenge the new Defective Blocks Bill which he signed into law last Saturday.
The observation is contained in a reply to an email sent to President Higgins by a member of the Mica Action Group.
In his reply, George Burke, the Deputy Secretary General of the President’s Office says President Higgins has followed the passage of this bill through both Houses of the Oireachtas, and has listened carefully to the debate and the issues raised.
He said while noting that important concerns were raised in the discussion on this Bill, the Bill itself did not directly raise a constitutional issue suitable for a referral under Article 26 of the constitution.
Mr Burke added that when considering legislation, the President must also be cognisant of the constitutional provision that no Court can question the validity of any legislation following a referral by the President to the Supreme Court.
He said the President’s decision to sign the Bill leaves it open to any citizen to challenge the provisions of this legislation in the future.
The reply was sent to Fiachra O’Luain, who had written to the president asking him to consider not signing the bill because of the speed with which it was rushed through the Dail.
