I move that the Bill be now read a Second Time.
The main purpose of the Bill is to postpone until 1966 the local elections which, under existing legislation, are due to be held this year and to extend the term of office of existing members of local authorities. I think it will be generally agreed that it is inconvenient, and in some respects undesirable, that a general election to Dáil Éireann and elections of members of local authorities should be held within the same calendar year. In particular, the substantial proportion of the members of the House who are also members of local authorities would hardly welcome such a double campaign.
We had general elections to the Dáil in 1932 and 1933 and in these years some county borough councils were elected. Apart from this, however, local elections have never been held in a year in which a general election took place. Indeed, on quite a number of previous occasions local elections were postponed because general elections were held in the years fixed by statute for local elections. This happened in 1932, 1933, 1937, 1938 and 1948.
The law relating to local elections originally provided that they should be held at intervals of three years. Over the past 43 years ten Acts have been passed by the Oireachtas postponing local elections and during that period only eight such elections have been held. The average interval between has, therefore, been slightly more than five years.
The Local Elections Act, 1953, formally altered the statutory period between elections from three years to five years. Local elections took place in 1945, 1950, 1955 and 1960. The Bill provides for the re-establishment of this pattern after the postponement now proposed and section I stipulates that local elections shall be held in 1970 and quinquennially thereafter.
The Bill will also have the effect of postponing until 1966 the elections of members for certain bodies appointed wholly or in part by local authorities and for re-establishing the quinquennial pattern of these elections as and from 1970. These bodies include health authorities, committees of agriculture, vocational education committees, harbour authorities, drainage committees, etc.
Since the Local Elections Act, 1927, local authorities have been accustomed to hold their annual or quarterly meetings in a non-election year during the period between 23rd June and 1st July. At these meetings they elect the lord mayor, mayor, chairman and vice-chairman and nominate members to serve for the ensuing year on certain committees and other public bodies. Local authorities were notified last month of my intention to submit this Bill to the Oireachtas for consideration and they were advised in the circumstances to make arrangements to hold their annual or quarterly meetings this year within the normal period. Sections 6 and 7 of the Bill propose to validate the action of the authorities in connection with the meetings.
The 1927 Act also laid down that local elections should be held within the period from 23rd June to 1st July. This was changed by the Electoral Act, 1963, which enables the Minister for Local Government to fix any day within an election year to be polling day at local elections. A corresponding degree of flexibility is being applied by sections 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Bill to the election and term of office of certain bodies on which local authorities have a stututory right of representation. The bodies in question are vocational education and school attendance committees, the Lough Corrib Navigation Trustees and harbour authorities.
I submit the Bill for the approval of the House.