Like its modern successor, the Free State Dáil was, in any case, the dominant component of the legislature; it effectively had authority to enact almost any law it chose, and to appoint and dismiss the President of the Executive Council (prime minister).

As adopted, the constitution required that a Dáil's term would last for four years, unless the law specified a shorter period or the house was dissolved early.

The Dáil could theoretically have been dissolved at any time by the King, acting on the advice of Executive Council, but it is probable that the Free State would have broken all constitutional ties if that had happened.

The Free State constitution required that the Dáil be elected by "proportional representation" and the Single Transferable Vote system was used.

The following general elections took place to the Free State Dáil during its existence: The Free State constitution provided that the President of the Executive Council would be appointed by the King "on the nomination of" the Dáil and that the Executive Council as a whole had to resign en bloc if it lost the confidence of the lower house.

A constitutional amendment passed in 1936 removed the role of the King entirely and provided that, in the final months of the Free State, the President would be elected by the Dáil directly, rather than merely being 'nominated' by the lower house.

Unlike its modern successor, the Free State Dáil did not have authority to declare war, this power being reserved for the Oireachtas as a whole.

During the later days of the Irish Free State the Dáil, as the dominant component of the Oireachtas, had the effective authority to amend the constitution in any way it chose.

However, once the Constitution of the Irish Free State was in effect the Third Dáil served as the lower house of a new parliament, called the Oireachtas.