What to note while you research
- The House or committee: Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann, or the committee's full name.
- The exact date of the sitting.
- The debate heading, such as the Bill and stage, or the subject of the question.
- The speaker, for quotations.
- The permanent URL of the official page, and the date you accessed it.
On the course: Politics and Society and university law both lose marks for citing a summary. CSPE action records should name the Oireachtas page too. Harvard is the usual politics style. OSCOLA Ireland is the usual law style.
In the patterns below, anything in square brackets is a placeholder for you to replace with the details of your own source.
Worked Harvard example, from the current Dáil: Houses of the Oireachtas (2025) Dáil Éireann debate, 23 January 2025: Nomination of Taoiseach. Available at: https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/2025-01-23/ (Accessed: 26 September 2026). In OSCOLA Ireland the Constitution point in that story is a footnote: Constitution of Ireland, art 13.1.1°.
Harvard style patterns
Common in Politics and Society, PPE, political science and social science courses. Punctuation varies between institutions.
| Source | Pattern |
|---|---|
| Dáil debate | Houses of the Oireachtas ([Year]) Dáil Éireann debate, [Day Date Month Year]: [Debate heading]. Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [date]). |
| Seanad debate | Houses of the Oireachtas ([Year]) Seanad Éireann debate, [Date]: [Debate heading]. Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [date]). |
| Dáil vote (division) | Houses of the Oireachtas ([Year]) Dáil Éireann division, [Date]: [Motion or Bill and stage]. Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [date]). |
| Parliamentary question | [TD surname, Initial] ([Year]) Parliamentary Question [number] to the Minister for [Department], Dáil Éireann, [Date]. Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [date]). |
| Committee report | Joint Committee on [Subject] ([Year]) [Title of report]. Dublin: Houses of the Oireachtas. Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [date]). |
| L&RS briefing | Oireachtas Library & Research Service ([Year]) [Title]. Dublin: Houses of the Oireachtas. Available at: [URL] (Accessed: [date]). |
In the text, cite the author and year, for example (Houses of the Oireachtas, [Year]). When quoting a TD, name them in your sentence and cite the debate: as [Name] told the Dáil, "..." (Houses of the Oireachtas, [Year]).
OSCOLA Ireland patterns
Common in Irish law schools. OSCOLA uses footnotes and minimal punctuation.
| Source | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| The Constitution | Constitution of Ireland, art [number] | Constitution of Ireland, art 40.3.1° |
| An Act | [Short title] [Year], s [section] | Freedom of Information Act 2014, s 11 |
| A statutory instrument | [Title] [Year] (SI No [number] of [Year]) | [Title] Regulations [Year] (SI No [number] of [Year]) |
| A Bill | [Short title] Bill [Year] (Bill [number] of [Year]) | [Name] Bill [Year] (Bill [number] of [Year]) |
| A Dáil debate | Dáil Deb [Date], vol [number], no [number] | Dáil Deb [Day Month Year], vol [number], no [number] |
| A reported case | [Case name] [Year] [Volume] [Report] [first page] | Crotty v An Taoiseach [1987] IR 713 |
| A neutral citation | [Case name] [Year] [Court] [number] | [Case name] [Year] IESC [number] |
Modern Dáil debates are published online, and some older citations use column numbers from the printed volumes. If your guide asks for a column or page and the online record does not show one, include the URL instead and note the date accessed.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Citing a news article or a summary for a quotation that is available in the Official Report.
- Citing the Oireachtas homepage instead of the specific debate, vote or question.
- Treating a Minister's answer to a parliamentary question as an independent fact rather than the Government's stated position.
- Citing an Act as originally passed when it has since been amended. Check the revised Act.
- Referring to a Bill as law. It only becomes an Act once signed by the President.