The main purpose of the Bill before us is to provide for a system of disclosure of election expenditure by candidates, political parties and third parties at local elections. In addition, candidates will have to disclose the sources of income used to meet the election expenditure, including the disclosure of each donation over £500 received by them in connection with the election. The Bill draws on the principles of the Electoral Act, 1997, but provides for a more streamlined set of arrangements than those applying at Dáil and European elections in order to reflect the particular characteristics of local elections.
I have given the matter of commencing section 72 of the Electoral Act, 1997, detailed consideration and I am satisfied that the arrangements envisaged under that section would not be appropriate for local elections for the following reasons. Local elections differ from Dáil and other elections in a number of major respects but most notably in terms of scale. At the local elections in June of this year, there will probably be over 3,500 candidates. This compares to 484 at the 1997 Dáil general election and 52 at the 1994 European elections. Similarly, in relation to constituencies, there are 268 local electoral areas compared to 42 Dáil and four European Parliament constituencies.
While the population of local electoral areas varies greatly, the average is around 13,500 and some areas have populations of little more than 1,000, and they are much smaller than, for instance, populations in Dáil constituencies, which range from 62,000 to 115,000, while the European Parliament constituencies have populations of 668,000 to over 1 million. The electorate is generally about 70 per cent of the population. Due to the smaller size of constituencies and the local nature of the elections, extensive expenditure would not be necessary and expenditure by each candidate would be lower than at a Dáil election.
If section 72 were commenced and regulations made under it, the size and complexity of the administrative undertaking become even clearer. For example, each candidate would have to appoint an election agent and about 3,500 election agents would have to make election expenditure statements to the Public Offices Commission within 56 days of the election in respect of elected members and unsuccessful candidates. Expenditure limits would have to be set either for all candidates for election to each local authority, or different limits would have to be set for candidates for different classes of local authorities. If different limits of expenditure are set for candidates in different areas the question of equality of treatment would arise. The 1,627 elected members would have to make donation statements to the Public Offices Commission by 31 January 2000 and every year thereafter, while about 1,900 unsuccessful candidates would have to submit donation statements to the Public Offices Commission within 56 days of the election.
Not surprisingly, given what I have just outlined, the Public Offices Commission would need extra staff and resources to carry out the extra work involved at a cost of about £300,000. Another major feature of a section 72 scheme would be its central focus – all documentation would have to travel to Dublin rather than staying in the relevant locality. It is clear, therefore, that a scheme under section 72 would not be appropriate for local elections. I propose an alternative scheme in the Bill which can meet the objectives of the Electoral Act, 1997, through a less bureaucratic and more local arrangement.
The Bill provides that each candidate will submit an income and expenditure statement to the local authority for which he or she is a candidate for election. Details of any donation over £500 received to fund the election expenditure will also have to be disclosed. Political parties will submit a statement of their total headquarters' expenditure at the local elections to a specified local authority in the Dublin area. Expenditure by a political party at local electoral area level will have to be disclosed by a designated person of the political party to the local authority concerned. Thus, there will be two levels of disclosure for political parties and one for candidates.
I wish to point out that political parties are already obliged to disclose donations over the specified limit received during a local election in their annual donation statements. For this purpose, parties are deemed to include any branch of the party, candidate of the party at a local election, member of the party who is a Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas, a member of a local authority or a representative in the European Parliament or any officer, member or agent of the party or of a branch or subsidiary organisation.
Members of the Oireachtas who stand as candidates at the local elections will have to furnish statements to a local authority. There may be some duplication in this situation, but it should not be too onerous on any individual. If a Member of the Oireachtas who is a candidate at the local elections is excluded from submitting an expenditure statement to a local authority, then there would not be a complete picture of expenditure at the election and this could give rise to concern that some candidates were not being treated the same as others. In summary, this means that Oireachtas Members who contest local elections will make this declaration in addition to declarations they must already make under the Ethics in Public Office and Electoral Acts.
An important feature of the scheme proposed in the Bill is its local focus. All documentation will be kept locally for inspection by local people. It would run counter to the major programme of local government reform that I have undertaken if the documentation were to be stored centrally in Dublin. Why should the public in towns such as Bantry or Buncrana have to travel to Dublin to inspect the relevant records for local elections?
I wish to mention existing provisions and some current developments in relation to conflict of interest and ethics at local authority level. I am conscious of the need for a new ethical framework for local authorities which is robust and workable and which takes account of the recent legislative changes in this area. As Members are aware, ethical provisions have been in operation in the local government planning service since the enactment of the Planning Act, 1976. This Act applies to both members and officials of local authorities in so far as any planning, land acquisition and disposal functions or any dealings or interests in land are concerned. The provisions involve registrations of interests, public register of interests, declarations at meetings and penalties for non-compliance etc. However, it is now time to widen and strengthen its scope.
The major Local Government Bill currently in preparation in my Department provides an ideal opportunity for the review and preparation of an ethical framework for the local government service. This review will include the widening of ethical provisions to all local government activities, not just planning. It will take account of the Ethics in Public Office Act, 1995, and the work of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance and the Public Service on the draft standards in public office proposals. It will also take account of similar legislation in other jurisdictions. Additional areas to be considered include powers and mechanisms for investigations of contraventions, the drawing up of a code of conduct and the widening of existing disclosures and declaration provisions. For these reasons, I am not proposing in the Bill that elected members of local authorities furnish annual donation statements. The Local Government Bill will also provide for the elimination of the dual local authority-Oireachtas mandate from a future date. In the interim, pending the coming into effect of this general disqualification, it is proposed to remove the current disqualification applying to the chairs of Oireachtas committees and joint committees for the local elections in June 1999; such persons will then be free to stand for election. I will introduce the necessary amendment on Committee Stage to remove this disqualification.
I will now deal with the main sections of the Bill. Sections 1 to 4 are standard provisions dealing with the Short Title, definitions, regulations and expenses incurred by the Minister. I draw Members' attention to the inclusion in section 2 of the definition of donations, which is the same as applies at Dáil and European elections. I also emphasise that where a person makes more than one donation to a candidate at the same election, the donations are aggregated and treated as a single donation.
The power to make regulations in section 3 provides for the prescribing of forms for the statements of election expenses. I will make the regulations as soon as the Bill is enacted so that candidates and political parties will be familiar with the requirements of the prescribed forms before the election period commences.
Section 6 contains the definition of election expenses and is based on section 31 of the Electoral Act, 1997, which applies for Dáil and European Parliament elections. Election expenses are defined as any expenditure incurred in connection with a local election to promote or oppose, directly or indirectly, the interests of a political party or the election of any candidate, or to present or oppose the policies of a party or candidate. The section provides that certain expenditure will be deemed not to constitute election expenses. These exceptions are the same as those currently applying at Dáil and European elections; details can be found in the Bill and the explanatory and financial memorandum.
I do not propose an expenditure limit for candidates at local elections. Such a limit would make the scheme bureaucratic for candidates and political parties and would add to its cost. Given the smaller scale of individual local election areas compared to other elections, expenditure should not be as extensive. The general principle of disclosure contained in the 1997 Act is maintained and, in addition, all candidates will have to disclose the sources of funding used to meet the election expenditure. I intend to have an analysis made of expenditure at the elections and this data will be useful to see whether an expenditure limit is necessary in the future, especially whether different limits should be set for candidates and political parties contesting elections in authorities of different size. It may be of interest to the House that most EU countries do not have election expenditure limits for local elections.
The most frequently asked question concerns the period in which election expenses incurred have to be declared. Section 6(3) states that the period commences on the date of the polling day order and ends on polling day. This is generally a period of four weeks before polling day, which will be 11 June next. However, election expenses incurred before the date of the polling day order for use in the election period must be included in the election expenses statement – that is similar to current provision in the Electoral Acts. This section also provides that third parties who have no connection with political parties or candidates and who intend incurring election expenses at either national or local electoral level will have to register with a local authority and make an election expenses statement after the election.
Section 7 requires a political party other than a political party registered to contest elections in part of the State, which proposes to present candidates at a local election, to appoint a national agent. The national agent will be responsible for national expenditure only as it would not be poss ible for such a person to keep track of local expenditure without an army of staff in the party headquarters. Section 8, therefore, provides that each political party will be obliged to appoint a "designated person" who will be responsible for furnishing a statement of election expenses incurred by a political party at local electoral area level.
Section 13 provides for the furnishing of the statements in prescribed forms by national agents, designated persons, candidates and third parties within 56 days of polling day at the election. I also provide that where a candidate or third party dies before the submission of a statement, it will not be necessary for the personal representatives of that person to submit a statement.
An essential element of the scheme in the Bill is openness and section 14 provides that election expenses statements received from designated persons, candidates and third parties for expenditure at local level must be given to the elected members of the local authority concerned. The statements by political parties and third parties for expenditure at national level will be available for inspection at a local authority in the Dublin area.
Section 18 obliges a local authority to register every statement it receives and section 19 requires it to publish, in a newspaper circulating in its functional area, a notice stating the time and place that the statements can be inspected. The notice will also include the names of those who have not furnished statements. The section also provides that a local authority will issue guidelines to candidates and political parties on matters covered in the Bill. This should assist candidates and others in understanding the Bill's requirements. I would like to see the guidelines issuing to candidates and others as early as possible and I have arranged for my Department to issue draft guidelines to local authorities as soon as the Bill is enacted.
Disqualifications, offences and penalties under the Bill are contained in sections 20 and 21. The penalties for non-compliance or furnishing false or misleading statements by a national agent, designated person or third party are the same as those which apply at Dáil or European elections. I propose a different regime for candidates, whether unsuccessful candidates or elected members. Where an unsuccessful candidate at an election fails to furnish, within the specified period, a statement of election expenses or a statutory declaration the person shall be disqualified from membership of a local authority during the remainder of the term of office of members of a local authority elected at that election. Where a member of a local authority elected at the election fails to furnish, within the specified period, a statement of election expenses or a statutory declaration, the member shall be automatically suspended from membership of the authority for seven days commencing on the expiry of the time specified. If at the end of such seven days the member has not complied with the requirements of section 13, he or she shall be disqualified from membership of a local authority during the period of the remainder of the term of office of members of a local authority elected at that election. So that there is no misunderstanding of the position of elected members, I will ask local authorities to issue a notice at the first meeting of the new councils to remind them of the provisions of the Bill.
Section 24 is the final section and makes provision for research into the feasibility of introducing electronic methods of recording and counting votes under the present PR-STV election system. This provision will not introduce electronic voting and counting at elections, which would require separate legislation. At present, counted ballot papers can only be inspected by obtaining a High Court order made when the court is hearing a petition questioning an election. In the normal course of events, counted ballot papers are destroyed six months after the election. The section makes provision for the use of the counted ballot papers to assist in the examination of the feasibility of introducing electronic voting and counting. This is necessary to test the equipment to be used for electronic voting, including any minor changes in the counting rules necessary, and to establish the effects of such changes. Extraction of data from the counted ballot papers will be restricted to this purpose and the ballot papers will be destroyed in the normal way once the information is recorded.
The scheme I propose in the Bill is a local scheme appropriate to local elections. It will be less costly, less bureaucratic and simpler to operate than the scheme for Dáil and European Parliament elections. Crucially, however, it will embody the principles of the Electoral Act, 1997 – all expenditure will be disclosed, candidates will have to disclose the sources of funding used to meet election expenses together with any donation over £500; and the obligation on political parties to disclose donations, as currently provided for under Part IV of the Electoral Act, 1997, will continue. The Bill is a sensible, workable and comprehensive approach to the disclosure of donations and expenditure in respect of local elections, and I commend it to the House.