The full text of the Amsterdam Treaty is available on the Irish Times website (http://www.irish-times.com). The site also contains the full text of the Government's White Paper as well as of the Maastricht Treaty. The site will be updated daily and includes a discussion forum and online polling booth.
The poll day question
The question which will be put to the electorate on May 22 is:
Do you approve of the proposal to amend the Constitution contained in the undermentioned Bill?
Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1998.
The Bill allows the State to ratify the Amsterdam Treaty by amending Article 29 of the Constitution (the Article which deals with international relations and which was amended when Ireland joined the EEC, as it was then, ratified the Single European Act and also the Maastricht Treaty). The Bill also allows the State to exercise options, or discretions, under certain provisions of the Treaty, but only following approval by the Dail and Seanad.