Ireland

Article 12.3 states:

(1) The President shall hold office for seven years from the date upon which he enters upon his office, unless before the expiration of that period he dies, or resigns, or is removed from office, or becomes permanently incapacitated, such incapacity being established to the satisfaction of the Supreme Court consisting of not less than five judges…

(3) An election for the office of President shall be held not later than, and not earlier than the sixtieth day before, the date of the expiration of the term of office of every President, but in the event of the removal from office of the President or of his death, resignation, or permanent incapacity established as aforesaid (whether occurring before or after he enters upon his office), an election for the office of President shall be held within sixty days after such event.

Article 14.1 states:

In the event of the absence of the President, or his temporary incapacity, or his permanent incapacity established as provided by section 3 of Article 12 hereof, or in the event of his death, resignation, removal from office, or failure to exercise and perform the powers and functions of his office or any of them, or at any time at which the office of President may be vacant, the powers and functions conferred on the President by or under this Constitution shall be exercised and performed by a Commission constituted as provided in section 2 of this Article.

Article 14.2 states:

(1) The Commission shall consist of the following persons, namely, the Chief Justice, the Chairman of Dáil Éireann (An Ceann Comhairle), and the Chairman of Seanad Éireann.

(2) The President of the High Court shall act as a member of the Commission in the place of the Chief Justice on any occasion on which the office of Chief Justice is vacant or on which the Chief Justice is unable to act.

(3) The Deputy Chairman of Dáil Éireann shall act as a member of the Commission in the place of the Chairman of Dáil Éireann on any occasion on which the office of Chairman of Dáil Éireann is vacant or on which the said Chairman is unable to act.

(4) The Deputy Chairman of Seanad Éireann shall act as a member of the Commission in the place of the Chairman of Seanad Éireann on any occasion on which the office of Chairman of Seanad Éireann is vacant or on which the said Chairman is unable to Act.

Article 16.1 states:

(1) Every citizen without distinction of sex who has reached the age of twenty-one years, and who is not placed under disability or incapacity by this Constitution or by law, shall be eligible for membership of Dáil Éireann.

(2) i All citizens, and ii such other persons in the State as may be determined by law, without distinction of sex who have reached the age of eighteen years who are not disqualified by law and comply with the provisions of the law relating to the election of members of Dáil Éireann, shall have the right to vote at an election for members of Dáil Éireann.

(3) No law shall be enacted placing any citizen under disability or incapacity for membership of Dáil Éireann on the ground of sex or disqualifying any citizen or other person from voting at an election for members of Dáil Éireann on that ground.

(4) No voter may exercise more than one vote at an election for Dáil Éireann, and the voting shall be by secret ballot.

Article 28.6 states:

The Tánaiste shall act for all purposes in the place of the Taoiseach if the Taoiseach should die, or become permanently incapacitated, until a new Taoiseach shall have been appointed. 3° The Tánaiste shall also act for or in the place of the Taoiseach during the temporary absence of the Taoiseach.

Article 28.12 states:

The following matters shall be regulated in accordance with law, namely, the organization of, and distribution of business amongst, Departments of State, the designation of members of the Government to be the Ministers in charge of the said Departments, the discharge of the functions of the office of a member of the Government during his temporary absence or incapacity, and the remuneration of the members of the Government.

Article 31.5 states:

Every member of the Council of State appointed by the President, unless he previously dies, resigns, becomes permanently incapacitated, or is removed from office, shall hold office until the successor of the President by whom he was appointed shall have entered upon his office.

Article 33.5, paragraph 1 states:

The Comptroller and Auditor General shall not be removed from office except for stated misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only upon resolutions passed by Dáil Éireann and by Seanad Éireann calling for his removal.

Article 35.4, paragraph 1 states:

A judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court shall not be removed from office except for stated misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only upon resolutions passed by Dáil Éireann and by Seanad Éireann calling for his removal.

Excerpts from the Constitution of Ireland (1937, last amended 2013)

Section 8 states:

Where, before the reports of a Constituency Commission have been presented to the Chairman of the Dáil under section 9 , the person appointed to be chairperson of the Commission—

• (a) through ill-health or other reasonable cause becomes unable to act as such chairperson, the Chief Justice shall assign another judge of the Supreme Court or, following consultation with the President of the High Court, another judge of the High Court to be a member and the chairperson of the Commission;
• (b) ceases to hold office as a judge of the Supreme Court or of the High Court, the person shall continue as such chairperson until the reports of the Commission have been presented unless the Chief Justice assigns another judge of either court to be a member and the chairperson of the Commission.

(2) Where the holder of an office referred to in paragraphs (b) to (e) of section 7 , through ill-health or other reasonable cause, is unable to act as a member of a Constituency Commission or any such office is vacant, the Minister may appoint, in the case of—

• (a) the Ombudsman, the Director of the Office of the Ombudsman,
• (b) the Secretary of the Department of the Environment, another officer of the Minister, who is an established civil servant for the purposes of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1956 ,
• (c) the Clerk of the Dáil, the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil, and
• (d) the Clerk of the Seanad, the Clerk Assistant of the Seanad, to be a member of the Commission and the person so appointed shall remain a member of the Commission until the reports of the Commission are presented to the Chairman of the Dáil under section 9…

Section 28, subsection 5, paragraph (a) states:

If, before the relevant statement of election expenses has been furnished to the Public Offices Commission in accordance with section 36 , the appointment of a national agent or an election agent is revoked, or a person appointed as such national agent or election agent dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to act, another national agent or election agent, as the case may be, shall be appointed forthwith by the political party or candidate concerned.

Section 38, subsection 2 states:

Where it is shown to the court that the failure, error, omission or false or misleading statement arose—

• (a) due to the illness of a party to the proceedings,
• (b) where a party to the proceedings is a political party, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of the national agent of such political party or of any employee of such agent,
• (c) where a party to the proceedings is a candidate, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of his or her election agent or of any employee of such agent,
• (d) where a party to the proceedings is the national agent of a political party or the election agent of a candidate, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any person who had previously been such agent, or of any employee of the party to the proceedings,
• (e) where a party to the proceedings is a person referred to in section 31 (7), due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any employee of such person, or
• (f) due to inadvertence or other reasonable cause not involving negligence on the part of such party to the proceedings, or the contravention, knowingly, by such party of the provisions of this Part, and was not due to any lack of bona fides on the part of such party to the proceedings and where the proceedings are based wholly or partly on the grounds of misconduct on the part of any person, such misconduct was without the approval or knowledge of such party to the proceedings and such party took all reasonable action to prevent such misconduct, the court may, on application to it by such party, on being satisfied that it is appropriate so to do, make such order granting relief for the failure, error, omission or false or misleading statement the subject of the proceedings as it considers reasonable.

Section 50, subsection 4, paragraph (a) states:

If, before the presidential election donation statement and the statement of election expenses have been furnished to the Public Offices Commission in accordance with sections 48 and 56 , respectively, the appointment of a presidential election agent is revoked or the person appointed as such agent dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to act, the candidate shall forthwith appoint another presidential election agent and shall notify in writing the name of the person so appointed and the address of the person's office to the presidential returning officer.

Section 58, subsection 2 states:

Where it is shown to the court that the failure, error, omission or false or misleading statement arose:

• (a) due to the illness of a party to the proceedings,
• (b) where a party to the proceedings is a candidate at the presidential election, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of his or her election agent or of any employee of such agent,
• (c) where a party to the proceedings is the election agent of a candidate at the presidential election, due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any person who had previously been such agent, or of any employee of the agent,
• (d) where a party to the proceedings is a person referred to in section 52 (6), due to the death, illness, absence or misconduct of any employee of the person, or
• (e) due to inadvertence or other reasonable cause not involving negligence on the part of such party to the proceedings, or the contravention, knowingly, by such party of the provisions of this Part, and was not due to any lack of bona fides on the part of such party to the proceedings and where the proceedings are based wholly or partly on the grounds of misconduct on the part of any person, such misconduct was without the approval or knowledge of such party to the proceedings and such party took all reasonable action to prevent such misconduct, the court may on application to it by such party, on being satisfied that it is appropriate so to do, make such order granting relief for the failure, error, omission or false or misleading statement the subject of the proceedings, as it considers reasonable.

Excerpts from the Electoral Act (1997, last amended 2014)

Section 9, subsection 2 states:

Where the presidential returning officer is prevented by illness or other reasonable cause from performing all or any of his duties at the election, the Minister shall appoint a person to act as presidential returning officer for the performance of those duties during the period of the prevention and references in this Act to the presidential returning officer shall be construed accordingly.

Section 10 states:

…(2) Where a person referred to in subsection(1) is prevented by illness or other reasonable cause from performing all or any of the duties of a local returning officer or where a vacancy occurs in an office by virtue of which a person would be the returning officer at a D il election, the Minister shall appoint a person to act as local returning officer for the constituency concerned during the period of the prevention or vacancy, as the case may be…

(5) An appointment under subsection (4) may be revoked by the local returning officer concerned and, where an appointment is so revoked or the deputy local returning officer dies, resigns or becomes incapable of acting during the election, another deputy local returning officer shall be appointed under subsection (4).

Section 33, subsection 3 states:

Where the appointment of an agent under this section is revoked or an agent appointed under this section dies, resigns or becomes incapable of acting during an election, another agent may be appointed under this section in the place of that agent.

Section 34, subsection 11 states:

Where the appointment of an agent under this section is revoked or an agent appointed under this section dies, resigns or becomes incapable of acting during an election, another agent may be appointed under this section in the place of the agent…

Section 43, subsection 2 states:

Where, not less than 7 days before polling day at a presidential election, a presidential elector whose name is not on the postal voters list or the special voters list, satisfies the local returning officer that he is unable, by reason of physical illness or physical disability suffered by him, to vote at the polling station at which he would otherwise be entitled to vote and the local returning officer is of opinion that it would be more convenient for the elector because of his physical illness or physical disability to vote at another polling station in the same constituency, the elector may, if so authorised in writing by the local returning officer in such form as may be directed by the Minister, vote at such other polling station in the same constituency as may be specified in the authorisation.

Excerpts from the Presidential Elections Act (1993, last amended 2009)

Article 26, subsection 9 states:

Where the appointment of an agent under this article is revoked or an agent appointed under this article dies, resigns or becomes incapable of acting during an election, another agent may be appointed under this article in place of the first-mentioned agent and, where such an appointment is made, the candidate shall forthwith give written notice of the name and address of the agent appointed to the returning officer.

Article 65, subsection 6 states:

A request made by an elector within two hours before the hour fixed by the Minister for the close of the poll to have the ballot paper marked for the elector under this article otherwise than by a companion may be refused by the presiding officer if, in the presiding officer's opinion, having regard to the number of electors then coming in to vote or likely to come in to vote before the close of the poll, acceding to such request would interfere with the proper discharge of the presiding officer's duties or would unduly obstruct the voting of other electors.

Excerpts from the Local Elections Regulations (1995)