Every household will receive information leaflets on the abortion referendum before polling day, the Referendum Commission said today.
Difficulties with An Post and the Government Services Agency (GSA) over time constraints have been resolved, a spokeswoman for the Commission said, and the leaflets should be delivered to all households by February 27th.
Last week the Commission said it feared it could not get the necessary information to all parts of the country before the abortion referendum on March 6th.
The statement caused controversy as opposition parties criticised the Government for not giving the Commission enough time to ensure the public is adequately informed before the poll.
But in an apparent U-turn last night the Minister for Justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, said on RTÉ's Questions and Answersprogramme the 1.3 million explanatory leaflets would be delivered on time.
This morning the Commission confirmed his statement, saying the GSA will be able to print 1.35 million leaflets within the time frame and An Post have confirmed they provided the necessary postal service to deliver them.
"The Commission's €3 million budget will now largely be spent on sending the information," a spokeswoman told ireland.comthis morning. But she was confident the public would have access to adequate information before polling day.
The 20-page leaflet has been approved and sent to the printers. It will also be available on the Commission’s website (www.refcom.ie) from today. A call centre is to be opened before the end of the week to provide the public with additional copies of the leaflet. The Commission is due give a briefing outlining its full campaign next Monday, February 25th.
But Labour Party spokesman on the Environment Mr Eamon Gilmore said today the Commission’s independence may have been compromised by Mr O’Donoghue’s announcement last night.
"The Commission has an important statutory role to play regarding to the dissemination of information on this referendum, but if it is to retain the confidence of the public, it must not only be independent of the government, but be seen to be independent," he said.
Fine Gael campaign director Ms Nora Owen this morning raised questions on the "stop-start" aspect of its campaign. She said: "There is a risk that the Commission has yet again been thwarted by Government instruction and will have to compromise on the extent of the information it provides".