[4] The Council of State consists of a number of government officials, who sit ex officio, as well as certain former office holders and up to seven individuals of the president's own choosing.
[17] The Constitution specifies a declaration of office, "in the presence of Almighty God", which a new member must take before attending an official meeting.
The one exception, where the President has "absolute discretion",[20] is in deciding to refuse a dissolution to a Taoiseach who has lost the confidence of the Dáil.
The Third Amendment of the Constitution Bill, 1958, which was defeated at a referendum, gave a role to the Council of State in the work of an envisaged constituency boundary commission.
[32] Working meetings called by the President for consultation under the terms of the Constitution are rare, though less so since the election of Mary Robinson in 1990.
[14] Members arrive 15 minutes before the meeting starts, and are served light refreshments in the Council of State Room.
[40] Campaigning in the 1990 presidential election, Mary Robinson promised to have meetings of the Council regularly rather than on "an emergency basis".
Jim Duffy in 1991 criticised the lack of supporting resources for members of the council; at meetings, they were provided only with a copy of the Constitution.
[28] By contrast, prior to the 2013 meeting to discuss the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, a dossier of background information was sent to each member, including legal briefs and news reports.
President Higgins alluded to this argument when he signed the Planning and Development Act 2024 without consulting the Council of State: he noted doubts about the bill's constitutionality, but said they were "probably best tested in a facts specific way rather than in the abstract".