The Government has published details of the upcoming referendum on divorce.

The vote to amend Articles 41.3.2 and 41.3.3 of the Constitution is to be held, alongside the European and local elections, on May 24th.

It will ask people to reduce the waiting time for a divorce from four to two years.

The proposed amendments will now be considered by the Oireachtas.

If passed, the reference to time limits would be removed from the Constitution.

The Government proposes, subject to the approval of the Dáil and Seanad, that the amendments to be proposed in the referendum will be:

- to delete the following paragraph from Article 41.3.2° of the Constitution: "at the date of the institution of the proceedings, the spouses have lived apart from one another for a period of, or periods amounting to, at least four years during the previous five years"

- to delete the following subsection from Article 41.3 of the Constitution: "3° No person whose marriage has been dissolved under the civil law of any other State but is a subsisting valid marriage under the law for the time being in force within the jurisdiction of the Government and Parliament established by this Constitution shall be capable of contracting a valid marriage within that jurisdiction during the lifetime of the other party to the marriage so dissolved."

-And to substitute that subsection with the following: '3º Provision may be made by law for the recognition under the law of the State of a dissolution of marriage granted under the civil law of another state.'

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: "In May, the people will be asked to approve an amendment to Article 41.3.2 of the Constitution to remove the requirement for spouses to live apart for a minimum of four years out of the preceding five when applying for a divorce.

"It is the Government's intention to reduce the living apart period to a minimum of two out of the preceding three years and to do so by way of ordinary legislation."

If the referendum is passed, the Government will bring forward a bill to reduce the minimum living apart period to two years during the previous three years.

It is proposed that the Constitutional requirements that the court is satisfied that there is no prospect of reconciliation, and that proper provision exists or will be made for spouses and children, will continue.

Minister Flanagan added: "The referendum will also provide an opportunity to modernise the provision on recognition of foreign divorces in Article 41.3.3 of the Constitution.

"The people will be asked to approve new text to replace this provision with a readily understandable text, which clearly provides that the Oireachtas may legislate for the recognition of foreign divorces granted under the civil law of another State."

The referendum will not propose any changes to the other provisions in Article 41.3.2, namely that only a court may grant a divorce, there is no reasonable prospect of a reconciliation between the spouses and proper provision exists or will be made for the spouses, any children of either or both of them and any other person prescribed by law.