The immediate necessity for this Bill arises from the death of the former Ceann Comhairle of Dáil Éireann, the late Deputy Joseph Brennan. The purpose of the Bill is to provide a method for determining the constituency for which the outgoing Ceann Comhairle may be deemed to be re-elected as a Member of the Dáil without a contest at a general election following a revision of constituencies.
Article 16.6 of the Constitution requires that provision be made by law for the uncontested re-election of the Ceann Comhairle. The statutory provision to give effect to this requirement is contained in section 14 of the Electoral Act, 1963. Under the terms of that section as it stands at present, the Ceann Comhairle is deemed to be re-elected for the constituency for which he was a Member before the dissolution of the Dáil or, if a revision of constituencies takes effect on the dissolution, for the constituency declared on the revision to correspond to that constituency.
For this purpose it has been the practice at each revision of constituencies, to include in the relevant Bill a statement indicating which of the new constituencies corresponded to the constituency represented by the Deputy who held the office of Ceann Comhairle at the time of the revision. Earlier this year, the Oireachtas passed a constituency revision Bill, entitled the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1980, and section 5 of that measure identified the new constituency of Donegal South-West as the constituency for which the Ceann Comhairle could be deemed to be re-elected. The death of the former Ceann Comhairle, the late Deputy Brennan, has rendered that provision ineffective.
The situation could be dealt with on an ad hoc basis by amending section 5 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act, 1980, so as to specify the constituency for which the present Ceann Comhairle may be deemed to be re-elected. However, I think there is general agreement on the desirability of dealing with the matter in general terms so that it will be possible, without further legislation, to identify the appropriate constituency in relation to any Deputy who may be elected from time to time to the office of Ceann Comhairle.
The Bill proposes to amend section 14 of the Electoral Act, 1963, so as to provide that, where a revision of constituencies takes effect on the dissolution of the Dáil, the Ceann Comhairle shall be deemed to be re-elected for the constituency which is identical with or contains all the constituency for which he was a Member immediately before the dissolution. If, however, his present constituency is divided between two or more new constituencies, he will be deemed to be re-elected for a revised constituency selected by him which contains part of the constituency for which he is at present a Member.
The Bill provides that the selection of a constituency by the Ceann Comhairle shall be made by means of a declaration in writing addressed to the Clerk of the Dáil. The Ceann Comhairle will also be required to notify the Members of the Dáil of the declaration. The precise manner of notification will be such as the Ceann Comhairle considers appropriate in the particular circumstances, but it may be expected that in the normal course he would make an appropriate announcement in the Dáil.
The Bill also provides that any such declaration shall cease to have effect in the event of the person who made it having ceased to be Chairman of the Dáil. This ensures that there can be only one such declaration in force at any time.
The Bill is a short and simple measure designed to achieve an objective on which we are all agreed. I may mention that I gave considerable thought to possible alternative ways of achieving this objective. In particular I considered whether a formula could be designed under which the appropriate constituency could, in every circumstance, be identified automatically without placing any burden of choice on the Ceann Comhairle. A satisfactory formula did not prove practicable, however, and the Bill provides for the exercise of a very limited choice by the Ceann Comhairle in particular circumstances.