The government has signed off on the referendum bill to allow a vote on the 8th Amendment.
Ministers approved the bill in the last hour, and the next stage will require the Dáil and Seanad to give their approval before a date can be fixed for the referendum.
Ministers have also been considering a policy paper outlining possible legislation if people vote to repeal the 8th Amendment.
Minister for Health Simon Harris said this will then be published tomorrow before further details are revealed in about three weeks.
“We will bring forward draft head of a bill at the end of this month or at the very start of April,” he said.
However, he made the point that legislation to follow but that remains “academic and hypothetical” until the amendment is actually repealed.
“I hope that as we discuss the detail of what may follow, we don’t lose sight of the importance of repealing the 8th Amendment in the first place,” he said.