Vol. 546 No. 1
6 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he will comment on the reforms recommended by the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution regarding the operation of the referendum commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30008/01]
52 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government if he has completed consideration of whether a referendum commission will be established for the forthcoming referendum regarding the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001; if an alternative method of providing financial assistance to promote the different sides in the campaign is being considered; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31110/01]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6 and 52 together.
As they are both oral questions, not more than 12 minutes is allotted for them.
The sixth progress report by the Oireachtas All-Party Committee on the Constitution on the referendum made a number of recommendations on the provision of information at referenda. Principal among these were proposals to amend the functions of a referendum commission, including removing the role of presenting the arguments for and against a proposal, providing a new power to allocate finance equally among pro and anti sides, and a recommendation to provide additional functions to promote voter participation.
These and other matters are under consideration in the context of whether to establish a com mission for the forthcoming referendum on the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution, under the existing legislation or under amended legislation. When the Government has made a decision on these matters an announcement will be made.
That was a very succinct reply. From my discussions, it seems the Government has considered this matter in further detail.
A question please, Deputy Gormley.
Does the Minister agree he has considered the matter further and that a decision has been made that will go to Cabinet? Is the Government considering amending legislation prior to the referendum because it so dislikes what the referendum commission achieved, although it achieved quite a lot? When will this legislation be brought forward? Will the Minister confirm that he is considering a number of options? Is he considering, first, not initiating the referendum commission before the next referendum? Is he considering perhaps amending the legislation so that the commission will simply tell people the referendum is taking place and encourage them to vote, or is he considering amending the legislation so that the commission will distribute money equitably, which would mean the bigger parties would get most of it?
The Deputy has used his minute.
Please answer those questions, Minister.
I am not sure if the Deputy has read the sixth progress report by the All-Party Committee on the Constitution.
Yes.
If he has, he will know that all the matters he has adverted to are in that report, as are the recommendations.
I am asking what the Cabinet is doing.
Excuse me, let me answer the question. I said that these and other matters are under consideration in the context of whether to establish a commission. The Government did not initiate this, it is responding to a committee report. I do not know whether the Deputy is on the committee.
No, I am not.
If the Deputy reads the report he will find that there was a view across the board, which is supported by independent research, that the method of arguing for and against a proposal is leading to confusion. There is a recommendation in the report that we should consider giving the commission power to allocate finances equally between pro and anti sides because it cannot be done any other way. There is also a recommendation to provide additional functions. We are considering all those things.
With specific reference to Question No. 52, will there be a referendum commission for the forthcoming abortion referendum? The legislation for the abortion referendum has been pushed through the House with a guillotine. The Taoiseach has announced that the referendum is to take place in February, so there is very little time within which to make the announcement to which the Minister referred earlier. I want to know directly from the Minister whether there will be a referendum commission for the abortion referendum. If so, when will that be announced? If not, when does the Government intend to introduce amending legislation to provide some other means of allocating resources for that particular referendum campaign?
Clearly, the Government has no power, nor has anybody else, to allocate money to pro or anti sides. If that is what is decided, it would require legislation. The Government has not yet decided whether there will be a referendum commission for the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution. The Government is considering the report by the All-Party Committee on the Constitution. According to the legislation, the Government does not need to set up a referendum commission. There is no compulsion on it to do so and, therefore, that is one of the options. The second option we will be considering on foot of the report is whether to set up a referendum commission with the same functions. A third option is whether to set up a referendum commission and change its functions. All those options are still being considered.
The referendum is to be held in February.
There is no decision yet as to whether a referendum commission will be set up. I do not know when the Government will make that decision.
Will the Minister confirm that the referendum commission established for the Nice treaty referendum did not spend its full funding allocation? Was that due to the fact that the referendum was so rushed and there was not enough time to inform the electorate? Will the Minister take that into account for forthcoming referenda?
The referendum commission for the Nice Treaty had 49 days between the date it was established and the date the referendum was held, which was similar to the timespan for the referenda on the abolition of the death penalty and recognising the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. It was longer than the referenda on the Good Friday Agreement and local government recognition. As the final costs are not available to me, I do not know whether the commission spent its full allocation.
Is the Minister aware that the All-Party Committee on the Constitution recommended previously that there should be a three-month lead in, in other words about 90 days? That is the reason the referendum commission could not do its job effectively. Can we have an analysis of that? The Government is trying to scrap the referendum commission because it does not want people to know the truth about the issues in referenda.
I could be provoked by the Deputy but I will not be.
Please feel free to be provoked.
I have no such intention because silly statements like that are not worthy of a response.
It is obviously true. It is because of the McKenna judgment.
The Deputy clearly did not read the report to which he is referring. He did not read the research that was done by an independent organisation on behalf of the European Commission. It would be worth his while to read them before making outlandish statements in the House.
Please answer my question. It is a disgrace that the Minister has not answered my question.
Please, Deputy Gormley, I have called Deputy Gilmore.
We will see before Christmas with the legislation.
You are being disorderly.
Is the Minister seriously telling the House that a Government which decides everything on the basis of how it will run politically has not decided, a few working weeks before this referendum that has been promised for February, how the referendum campaign will be run and whether there will be a referendum commission? Is this reluctance to tell us whether there will be a referendum commission related to the Taoiseach's apparent change of heart on whether he will support the referendum he has promoted, given that the wind appears to be changing direction concerning its prospects of success? The legislation for the abortion referendum was rushed through the House and guillotined on every Stage. This is a simple matter. We are going to have a referendum in February. When will there be a decision from the Government as to whether a referendum commission will be established in order that we all know how the issues in the referendum campaign, which were not debated here, will be communicated to and debated by the public?
Before the Minister responds, I will take a brief supplementary from Deputy Clune.
The Select Committee on Health and Children has recommended that a period of 30 or more days should elapse between the passing of the Bill and the holding of a referendum.
Three months. I asked that question but the Minister did not answer it.
Is provision being made for that timescale between the passing of the Bill and the abortion referendum?
If I were to answer that question, there would be a presumption that a referendum commission will be established. No such decision has yet been taken.
Surely the Minister knows when the referendum will be held.
In reply to Deputy Gilmore, as soon as a decision is taken it will be communicated publicly but no such decision has yet been taken. I would not presume to make a decision or to announce when the Government might make a decision on a particular matter.
Question No. 7, please.
On a point of order—
I have called Question No. 7 in the name of Deputy Gormley and I ask him to resume his seat.
I thought I could raise a point of order.
No, the Deputy cannot make a point of order. I have called Question No. 7. We have already run out of time on this question so a point of order does not arise.
