Politics
What type of government does Ireland have?
Republic of Ireland
Ireland is a constitutional republic with a parliamentary system of government. The is the bicameral national parliament composed of the President of Ireland and the two Houses of the Oireachtas:The President serves as head of state, and is elected for a seven-year term and may be re-elected once. The President is primarily a figurehead, but is entrusted with certain constitutional powers with the advice of the Council of State. The office has absolute discretion in some areas, such as referring a bill to the Supreme Court for a judgement on its constitutionality. Michael D. Higgins became the ninth President of Ireland on 11 November 2011. The serves as the head of government and is appointed by the President upon the nomination of the . Most "" have served as the leader of the political party that gains the most seats in national elections. It has become customary for coalitions to form a government, as there has not been a single-party government since 1989. Enda Kenny assumed the office of Taoiseach on 9 March 2011. The is composed of sixty members, with eleven nominated by the , six elected by two universities, and 43 elected by public representatives from panels of candidates established on a vocational basis. The has 166 members () elected to represent multi-seat constituencies under the system of proportional representation and by means of the single transferable vote. The Government is constitutionally limited to fifteen members. No more than two members can be selected from the , and the , (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Finance must be members of the . The Dáil must be dissolved within five years after its first meeting following the previous election, and a general election for members of the Dáil must take place no later than thirty days after the dissolution. According to the Constitution of Ireland, parliamentary elections must be held at least every seven years, though a lower limit may be set by statute law. The current government is a coalition administration led by with Enda Kenny as , supported by the Labour Party with Eamon Gilmore as . Opposition parties in the current are Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Socialist Party, the PBPA, the WUAG, as well as a number of Independents. Ireland has been a member state of the European Union since 1973, but has chosen to remain outside the Schengen Area. Citizens of the United Kingdom can freely enter the country without a passport due to the Common Travel Area, which is a passport-free zone comprising the islands of Ireland, Great Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. However, some identification is required at airports and seaports.