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Seanad Éireann debate -
Thursday, 10 Dec 2015

Vol. 244 No. 7

Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015: Second Stage

Question proposed: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan. I also wish to welcome Shenghe Lu, chairman of the Baocheng Education Group, and his colleague, Zhen Yao, from the Dublin Institute of Technology who are with us in the Visitors Gallery. We are delighted to have them with us from Dalian in China. I thank them for coming to Ireland. I am delighted with the work with DIT through Dr. Brian Murphy.

I am glad to have the opportunity to outline for the Members the provisions in the ninth Bill in the electoral area brought forward by the Government. This short Bill contains four measures. Each is separate and distinct.

The Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2015 provides, as the name suggests, for amendments to existing electoral law. The need for these amendments has become apparent in the operation of the relevant provisions in electoral law. The Bill provides for the continuation of the existing arrangements for candidate entitlement to free postage at Seanad university member elections, when the household distribution provision for Dáil elections is commenced. It provides for the Association of Irish Local Government to be included in the register of nominating bodies for Seanad panel member elections.

The Bill also provides that persons who become Irish citizens after the qualifying date for the register of electors may apply for entry in the supplement to the register of electors so as to have their new citizenship status recognised. Entry in the supplement would entitle them to vote at all elections and referendums arising before the next relevant register is prepared. It provides for a revised form of ballot paper to be used at Dáil elections.

Before elaborating on the provisions in the Bill, I take the opportunity to mention that I will bring forward amendments to the Bill on Committee Stage. One provides for the inclusion of the Local Authority Members Association in the register of nominating bodies for Seanad panel member elections in the same way as the Bill already provides for the Association of Irish Local Government. The other amendment provides for an enhancement of the powers of the Standards in Public Office Commission in relation to implementation of the Electoral Act 1997 which provides for regulation of political donations and election expenses.

I will now deal with the four provisions in the Bill passed by the Dáil last month. The first provision in the Bill relates to the entitlement to free postage of candidates at elections in the Seanad university constituencies. The Electoral Acts provide that candidates at presidential and Dáil elections, and elections in the Seanad university constituencies, are entitled to send an item of election communication to each person on the register of electors, free of postage charge. The postage costs are met by the State. Under these provisions, and where more than one person is registered at the same address, multiple copies of the same item of post are sent to that address. This is unnecessarily costly and wasteful.

In line with the Government's commitment to achieve efficiencies and to reduce Government spending, the necessary provision to allow for a household distribution of these election communications at European elections was commenced in 2014. This generated savings in the cost to the State of running the 2014 European elections, estimated at €2.5 million.

It is now the Minister's intention to commence section 78(a) of the Electoral Act 1997 to provide for household distribution at Dáil elections. This has the potential to save an estimated €3.6 million euro at a general election, based on the same number of candidates availing of the facility as did in 2011, and on similar postage costs.

The commencement of section 78(a) of the Electoral Act 1997 will amend section 57 of the Electoral Act 1992, which is also applied to Seanad elections by section 25 of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937. However, a household distribution would not be workable for elections in the Seanad university constituencies as registration in those constituencies is on an individual basis. The Bill therefore inserts a provision in the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937 to provide that candidates at elections in the Seanad university constituencies may send, free of postage charge, one election communication to each registered elector in the constituency. This effectively provides for the continuation of the existing arrangements for elections in the Seanad university constituencies and it mirrors the existing provision for Dáil elections in section 57 of the Electoral Act 1992. The necessary provisions are made in section 1.

The second provision in the Bill relates to nominating bodies for Seanad panel member elections. The Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947 Act provides for the establishment and maintenance of a register of bodies entitled to nominate persons to panels of candidates for the election of 43 Members of the Seanad, as provided for in the Constitution. This register is renewed annually in accordance with the provisions in the Act. The Act provides for the bodies representing local government to be registered each year automatically, that is, without application. The bodies named in the Act are the Irish County Councils General Council, which was most recently known as the Association of County and City Councils, and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland.

In 2014, following the reforms in local government, the two bodies representing local government, the Association of County and City Councils and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, merged to become the Association of Irish Local Government. That association is not named in the 1947 Act, and there is no provision in that Act for a successor body to the previous bodies to be included in the register of nominating bodies. The current register of nominating bodies came into force on 21 March 2015 and, even though there has been no policy change as such, the body representing local government in Ireland is not included in the register of nominating bodies for Seanad panel member elections. This is an inadvertent consequence of the changes in local government that took place in 2014 and one that is being addressed in this Bill.

The Bill provides, in section 2, for the amendment of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Member) Act 1947 to provide that the Association of Irish Local Government shall be registered, without application, in respect of the administrative panel in the register of nominating bodies for Seanad panel member elections.

Pending the next annual revision of the register, in March 2016, the Bill also provides, in section 2(c), for the Association of Irish Local Government to be registered in the register of nominating bodies which came into effect on 21 March 2015. It provides for the publication of a notice in this regard, in Iris Oifigiúil, by the Seanad returning officer.

Section 2 also makes consequential amendments to sections 27 and 58 of the 1947 Act. The effect of all of the amendments is to replace the references in the 1947 Act to the Irish County Councils General Council and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland with a reference to the Association of Irish Local Government. As I mentioned, I will be introducing an amendment on Committee Stage to provide that these nominating provisions will also apply for the Local Authority Members Association.

The third provision in the Bill is about application for entry in the supplement to the register of electors by people who become Irish citizens. The three requirements for voter registration are age, residence in a constituency and citizenship. One's citizenship dictates what elections one can vote in.

Since 1992 arrangements have been in place for persons not on the register of electors to be entered in a supplement to the register so that they can vote at an election or referendum taking place before the next register comes into force. Initially people would have had to have met the necessary requirements on the qualifying date for the register in any year. This is 1 September. The supplement provisions were modified in 1997 and again in 2001 to provide that persons reaching 18 years of age, or changing address, or moving constituency, after the qualifying date, could apply for entry in the register. However, no modification was ever made to provide for a person, whose citizenship changed after the qualifying date, to apply to be entered in the supplement to the register of electors. The Minister is proposing that this anomaly be addressed now. The Bill provides that a person who becomes an lrish citizen after the qualifying date for the register of electors can apply for entry in the supplement. This means that people who become Irish citizens will not have to wait for a full turnaround of the register of electors to be registered to vote at all elections and referendums. They will be entitled to apply for entry in the supplement to the register and to have their new citizenship status recognised and so be entitled to vote at an election or referendum taking place before the next relevant register of electors comes into force.

The new provisions are set out in section 3 of the Bill which substitutes section 15(1A) of the Electoral Act 1992.

The new section 15(1A) repeats the provisions in the existing section and includes the new provision that a person may apply for entry in the supplement to the register of electors if he or she was not a citizen of Ireland on the qualifying date of 1 September each year for a register of electors and subsequently became a citizen of Ireland. Such applications could be from persons who were never registered to vote or from persons already registered to vote, for example, as local government or European electors, who wish to change their registration details and so be entitled to vote at all elections and referendums.

The fourth provision in the Bill introduces a revised format for the ballot paper for Dáil elections. The Minister committed to a review of the ballot paper in the Dáil last April when concerns were raised with him about voters misplacing their marks on the ballot paper. Currently, political party emblems are placed along the left-hand side of the ballot paper. In the case of non-party candidates, the space for the emblem is required to be left blank. It is reported that some voters express their voting preferences by placing their marks in these boxes in the left-hand column. While it is understood that such marks may not necessarily render a ballot paper invalid, the Minister is of the view that any potential confusion should be eliminated, where possible.

Following on from the review of the format of the referendum ballot paper earlier this year, officials in the Department consulted with the National Adult Literacy Association and the National Council for the Blind in the review of the Dáil election ballot paper. It is proposed to move the space for including the emblem of a political party from the left-hand side of the ballot paper to a new location to the left of the photograph. There will, therefore, be no boxes along the left-hand side of the ballot paper. This should help voters avoid misplacing voting preferences as there will be only one box that can be marked for each candidate after voters have read across, from left to right, all of the information on each candidate. The new format should also be more user-friendly for voters with visual and literacy difficulties. In addition, italics and parentheses will be removed from the front of the ballot paper and the wording on the back of the ballot paper and the counterfoil will be in both Irish and English. The new format has been generally well received. I look forward to it being used at the next general election.

This is an amending Bill containing four separate and distinct measures. Each of the measures in the Bill is important in itself. I will address the amendments further on Committee Stage. The Bill seeks to resolve issues that have arisen in the course of the operation of the electoral codes. I commend it to the House.

I welcome the Minister of State. As outlined by her, the Bill is narrow legislation. As such, it does not, unfortunately, provide the political reform promised prior to the last general election. There are many facets of Irish political life that need to be reformed. The Bill provides for only a small element of that reform and is a missed opportunity, particularly in light of the economic recession we have come through, the EU-IMF programme, the recommendations made in that regard and the need for political reform not only in this House but across the political institutions of this State. While Fianna Fáil does not propose to oppose this legislation, it is, as I said, narrow in the extreme and we will be bringing forth a number of amendments to it on Committee Stage.

This legislation does not modernise the system of politics in Ireland, even from the point of view of the area under scrutiny therein. I welcome that this Bill provides for a new nominating body for the Seanad Administrative Panel, the panel my colleague, Senator Diarmuid Wilson, represents. This means there will be an increase in the number of nominating bodies in respect of that particular panel from 14 to 15. In regard to the data in regard to the cost of doing politics not only for Dáil elections but for Seanad elections, the cost of sending out material in the context of the last Seanad election under the free post system was €1.565 million, which is a high cost. We need always to be mindful of the need for efficiencies. Very often in the public sector value for money in terms of efficiency means cutting costs rather than doing things better or doing more for less. The practice is to always seek cuts to teacher and nurse numbers and cuts to public sector pay rather than focus on performance and effectiveness in that regard.

This legislation illustrates that there are ways of doing things better. I am sure that my colleagues from the university sector will know a great deal more about that. According to the data, the electorate on the NUI panel increased from 8,000 in 1938 to 102,000 in 2002 but this figure has fallen back since then. According to the information available to me in 2011, there were 97,000 individuals registered in the Trinity College electorate. I understand the cost of the free post system in the context of the last general election was approximately €11 million. In regard to the review of the electoral commission by the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, my colleague, Deputy Sean Fleming, who is a member of that committee has made a number of suggestions on how costs in this area could be reduced while retaining the effectiveness of the system. He proposed that rather than posting electoral literature on each candidate to each household, a booklet containing information on all of the candidates in an election be produced and delivered to each household. Much of the electoral literature delivered to households, irrespective of how important it is, is delivered along with regular post. The Department should perhaps undertake research on whether people find such literature useful given the volume of it. As I said, delivery of one booklet with the details of every candidate, irrespective of whether it is a general election or another election, would be much more effective and would save the taxpayer money. This would cut the bill for all elections. However, there has been no consideration of this proposal. What is provided for in this legislation is narrow. This legislation is incremental in terms of policy revision and it is not radical, which is what we need in this area.

The cost for delivery of election literature in respect of the last general election was €11.6 million; in respect of the last Presidential election, it was €11.2 million; and in respect of the last local and European elections, it was €11.5 million. I do not have the cost for delivery of election literature in respect of the referendum in 2013. There is a cost attached to democracy but we need to find better ways of interacting with people. The Internet provides us with a new medium through which we can engage with people, particularly in the context of the university panel. Senator John Crown spoke about the inaccuracy of the database for the university sector, upkeep of which is managed by the universities. There is perhaps a need to update that system to allow that electorate to upload their email addresses and so on. We need to think outside the box instead of providing for only little changes which provide no value for money for the taxpayer. This is poor legislation in that it does not reflect the thinking of the electoral commission. There is a great deal more I could say, but I will wait until Committee Stage to expand further on those points.

I welcome the Minister of State. Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill wants everything to be done in one fell swoop. While much needs to be done, it must be done by degrees. I welcome the changes being brought about by this Bill in regard to the nomination bodies for Seanad panel member elections. I also welcome the entitlements in regard to postage for Seanad university member elections.

The Bill also proposes to amend the Electoral Act 1992 in respect of the supplement to the register of electors for people not resident in Ireland at the time.

I welcome the extension to the university seats of the postage supports afforded to candidates and the provision of one postal communication to every elector. The Minister of State outlined the savings that will be made at Dáil elections for distribution to households. Nothing turns people off more than having a multitude of the same thing coming in their door, six and seven times in some households. The savings of €3.6 million in this regard are to be welcomed and I am sure they will be put to good use. This already is applied to the Seanad elections and while one cannot do it by household, as the Minister of State noted, I refer to the existing arrangements regarding the Seanad election under section 25 and the continuation of those arrangements for the university constituencies. They are necessary because it is a wide electorate located both in this country and in other countries.

Section 2 amends the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947 to include the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, on the register of nominating bodies. The AILG is the amalgamated body comprising the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, AMAI, and the Association of County and City Councils, ACCC, which represented town councils. Section 2 reinstates the right this body originally had to nominating rights on the administrative panel. I argue that because there was an amalgamation, the Minister of State perhaps should have considered giving them two nominations, namely, one for the ACCC as was, and one for the AMAI. Nevertheless, the AILG has one nomination in this regard. I will turn later to the Committee Stage amendments. As Members are aware, the AILG is a highly professional body that represents councillors and is a networking, policy development and training resource for elected members. It provides regular training and has interaction with all stakeholders, including Senators as elected representatives. I commend all former officers of the AMAI and the ACCC, some of whom have morphed into the AILG, including those who no longer are there. I commend the current president of the AILG, Councillor Colm Brophy, as well as Councillor Mags Murray, chairperson of the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, and all the volunteer and committed staff in those organisations who are there to keep Members of the Legislature on their toes and to ensure Members try to do what they ask most times. It is to be hoped the Minister of State will listen. In addition, Liam Kenny and Tommy Moylan provide the backup and support for the AILG and I also wish to mention all the volunteers of LAMA.

The Minister of State mentioned she intends to table amendments and I note that nine Government amendments to this Bill have been tabled, six of which deal with an issue that is close to my heart, that is, in having LAMA included for the first time as a nominating body. Therefore, there will be two nominations, which is a restoration of the previous position, whereby there were two people with the facility for nominating. I thank the Minister of State for this proposed amendment. She has listened to the submissions made by me and many others. I also commend Senator Maurice Cummins on his role in this regard. I am delighted about this-----

What about Fianna Fáil?

Senator Cáit Keane to continue, without interruption, please.

-----because when I sat on the officer board of LAMA, I traipsed in here to meet a couple of Ministers on its behalf, although this was not done at the time. LAMA now will have the power to use its nominating right or not. The power will be in the hands of the councillors of LAMA, they can use it or not as they wish, but at least it now will be a designated body. As the Minister of State noted, the AILG and LAMA are registered bodies and will not be obliged to register, apply in writing or anything like that. It is there and is official, which I welcome.

Amendment No. 7 refers to section 4(4) of the Electoral Act 1997, which states, "The Public Offices Commission ... may require any person to furnish any information, document or thing in the possession or procurement of the person which the Commission may require for the purposes of its duties under this Act.". In respect of the Public Offices Commission, now the Standards in Public Office Commission, does the Minister of State believe it has all necessary powers or does it need more powers or more staff to carry out all the investigative duties with which it is bound? Rather than being a reactive body, if the commission finds some wrongdoing or has questions it must ask, does it have the power, staff and wherewithal to investigate? Rather than reacting to television programmes, will it be proactive in respect of sourcing?

The addition in this Bill of section 4(4A) to the Electoral Act 1997 prescribes a summary conviction of a class D fine. While I welcome its inclusion, I believe this issue merits more than a class D fine and the Minister of State might consider this later. The addition of section 4(4B) rules that information furnished by a person to the Standards in Public Office Commission is not admissible as evidence against the person in court. I would ask why it is not because the commission is a State body. I hope this will not make evidence non-admissible and sought in its own individual right. While I acknowledge data protection plays a part in this, one would not wish to tie the hands of future investigations by writing something like this into a Bill, whereby it is stated it cannot be used in evidence. However, if the evidence is sourced otherwise, that is, other than through the commission, it should not preclude that same evidence from being used.

The Minister of State spoke about the revised format of the Dáil ballot paper, which I welcome because if one is watching ballot papers being counted, one sees what can happen. It also is frustrating for counters who might even miss one on the left-hand side. I do not wish to finish on a negative note. This Bill contains some positive measures and I again thank the Minister of State for listening to Members in respect of the inclusion of LAMA as a nominating body. As I stated, it now has the power, if the councillors wish to use it. I also hope the Minister of State will bring good news to Members on the many other representations, which may not be on her desk but are on the desk of the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly. As the Minister of State is so good at coming into the Seanad with good news for Members, she might root out those representations from me and other Senators on other issues the AILG and LAMA have raised with Members regarding councillors' recognition for the arduous job they do while willingly giving of their time in community work.

I also welcome the Minister of State, in particular in the light of her recent difficulties. I spoke about the disgraceful behaviour of RTE and continue to maintain it was rather like somebody setting a match to a house to show it was a fire risk. It was a dreadful provocation of criminal behaviour, the Minister of State was unjustly caught up in it and I sympathise with her.

The Bill is much ado about nothing. It is a glorious missed opportunity. In reality, what is being addressed is the amalgamation of two bodies, the general council of county councils and the municipal authorities group. As they merged, they lost their capacity to be nominating bodies and so on. That is being reinstated and another one is being included, which is fine. Everybody in this House has great respect for the county councils and the members thereof, always heaps praise on them and so on. This is because the councillors are Members' electorate and so that is natural. However, in her contribution the Minister of State stated the register is renewed annually. The word "renewed" is an interesting choice in that it is renewed as a sort of stamp of approval and is done by rote. It should be reviewed, not renewed. I do not believe these panels have been reviewed properly since 1947. They are not in tune with the 21st century and this was an opportunity, because it could be done by legislation, to review the whole lot, not just the ones where the county councils are incommoded. This was an opportunity to review the entire panel system and structure in respect of nominating bodies in order to have something that reflects the realities of life in 21st century Ireland. One then could go one step further and enfranchise the ordinary membership of these organisations to enable them to have the capacity to vote. One then would get a revitalised Seanad. There is some argument for continuing the political system to include some people who have been in the Dáil, have been Cabinet Ministers and so on. I started off as one who condemned this practice as a safety net or nursing home for failed politicians and so on but I now believe, as a result of my experience over the years in Seanad Éireann, that to have people with the experience of working in the Cabinet or in the Dáil can be quite useful. They have an insight that is valuable and consequently, I believe there should be a minority of seats which can cater for people who have failed at a general election for the Dáil.

I reiterate the main purpose is to satisfy the councils in order that they will still be nominating bodies. That is the reason, motivation and purpose of the Bill and the rest of it is window-dressing. For example, there is a great fanfare that candidates for the university seats will be allowed to send one item of postage to each of their electors. I have been doing that for the past 30 years and there is absolutely nothing whatever that is new about this provision. Moreover, they are not following the revised provisions for Dáil Éireann. Consequently, why not simply leave the position as it is and make new arrangements for Dáil Éireann? There is no need to touch the university seats at all.

It is interesting that they did not seek to apply the 1979 amendment. That would have been an interesting debate and I would have had particular views on the issue, but they decided not to do so.

There is trickery and illusion. The next issue is the Dáil and the new proposals for postage which will give savings of some millions of euro. I suppose that is to be welcomed. There is not an awful lot to say about this Bill. It is pretty bloody straightforward and I disagree with my colleague on this side who said it was a pity we did not have more time and that there was far more that could be said. I think there is very little to be said.

I wish to raise the issue of blind people because the Minister of State said she has consulted with organisations for the blind. She said:

Following on from the review of the format of the referendum ballot paper earlier this year officials in the Department also consulted with the National Adult Literacy Association and with the National Council for the Blind in the review of the Dáil election ballot paper. It is proposed to move the space for including the emblem of a political party from the left-hand side of the ballot paper to a new location to the left of the photograph. There will, therefore, be no boxes along the left-hand side of the ballot paper.

Will the Minister of State explain what use that is to a blind person? What use is it? I do not see one. Perhaps there is some kind of arcane use, but I cannot see one unless it is embossed or something in Braille. That would be an idea. Why not have a certain limited number of Braille ballot papers for the blind? That would be of some use. To use a punning quotation, moving the picture here and there will not make a blind bit of difference to the blind. At least, I do not see how it will. It is just shifting things around. That is all I have to say. It is a glorious missed opportunity for some degree of real measured Seanad reform. This is not it. It is just a "fix it up" job with a bit of sellotape and a pair of scissors. That is all that is involved in this; therefore, it is nothing to get excited about. There is plenty of time to talk about it because there is nothing in it to talk about.

I welcome the Minister of State. It is welcome that the Association of Irish Local Government is now a nominating body and I compliment Senator Denis Landy who made strong representations to bring this about and campaigned vigorously for it.

Hear, hear for the Labour Party. What about Fianna Fáil?

We will deal with that in pme minute.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill referred to this as narrow legislation-----

And Sinn Féin.

Senator David Norris said it was a missed opportunity and I tend to agree with both of them. In respect of the way municipal districts were established, if I go two miles down the road in my local electoral area, I am in another electoral area or municipal district. They were meant to bring about more powers for county councillors. I have spoken to many councillors around the country and there is no change. They have no extra powers. When one looks at my county of Roscommon where the town of Athlone and villages like Athleague are flooded, what powers do the councillors have to do anything about this? They can do nothing about it.

Yesterday in the Seanad, I raised the case of a company called Global Flood Solutions that is based on Athlone. It sells its flood solutions product all over the world, yet the Government will not do business with it to solve the problems in the country. It is crazy. I know the HSE spent a lot of money on that product last year and it stored the product in a building in Roscommon town that was flooded. It is a huge issue in which councillors need to have some say, which is not the case.

The Athlone municipal district was established with Monksland as a part of it. Monksland has the biggest rate base for Roscommon County Council. As soon as the district was established, they spoke about putting Monksland into Westmeath thereby taking away the entire rate base. It is now with the boundary commission. I do not know if a decision will be made by the Government. I certainly hope not because the people of Roscommon will not stand idly by and allow Monksland to be taken away and given to County Westmeath. There are also implications for the GAA. There are three clubs in that area that would be split if this came to pass; therefore, I encourage the Minister of State to make sure nothing like this happens regardless of what is reported by the boundary commission.

We saw the "RTE Investigates" programme on Monday night. That is not reflective of the majority of county councillors around the country. Most of them are hard-working and decent people who would not take a penny for any effort they make on behalf of companies. It was a bit surreal that they posed as wind farm developers because for the past number of years, I have thought about how wind farm developers can come in and out of counties, manage to get planning permission, resist every road block put in place by the people and manage to get their way. It was interesting how the county councillor in County Donegal tried to more or less say that this is a tricky issue and that he would have to pretend that he was on the side of the people but that behind the scenes, he would be with the developers because there was money in it. I was always of that opinion. I do not think RTE decided to pose as wind farm developers out of the sky. I think they know an awful lot more.

I welcome the Minister of State. I support the Bill which contains a lot of practical and sensible proposals which are worthy of support. Obviously, there is a lot more than can be done and we can have debates on all those issues, but I am happy to support the measures in the Bill that I believe will be of benefit to citizens. I support the proposals in this Bill to facilitate the independent voting rights of people with sight loss or who are illiterate.

Clearly, a lot of work has gone into preparing the legislation and those who drafted it consulted closely with people with sight loss, for which I commend them. All of us as public representatives host public meetings. I hosted seven or eight public meetings in the past few years and on possibly four occasions, I had sign language interpreters for deaf people. It is very important to provide services for people who need support. One can claim for hosting the meeting, erecting posters and advertising through vouched expenses but it is not possible to claim for services for deaf people. Perhaps the Minister of State might be able to take up this point with the one-stop-shop or whoever is responsible for those issues. If, as part of our duties, we are hosting events, we should make them as accessible as possible.

The technical aspects of the proposal are complex but presumably they are similar to those operating in other jurisdictions with such systems. While the object of the Bill is to facilitate independent voting, it is good that it preserves the right for visually impaired voters to be assisted by a companion. This is essential as many people, particularly the elderly, including those with visual impairment, would have limited experience with computers and technology. I assume that the provision of computers will constitute the main technical assistance relating to these elections alongside the existing right of visually impaired and illiterate people to have a companion with them to assist them in filling in their ballot paper.

The proposals to allow greater time for people to be registered and then turn up at a polling centre are also sensible and valuable and are to be commended. There are a raft of other changes to existing electoral legislation that are required. The establishment of an electoral commission is still being dealt with by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht. I think it was discussed this week. It was noticeable that there is general cross-party consensus on the need for such a body. If it cannot be done during the lifetime of the Government, I hope-----

On a point of order, the Senator is speaking to the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill which deals with sight loss.

It is included. It is relevant.

It is not the Senator's fault because "No. 2" was left out in the first circular we got.

That is not a point of order. Senator David Cullinane should continue.

I am raising issues that have been raised by other Senators. I commend the Minister of State fpr bringing forward this and the other Bill. Many changes have been made by the Government on gender quotas and many positive changes have been introduced. However, an awful lot more can be done. I am sure that many of these issues will form part of our upcoming election campaign in which issues of political reform will surface. I commend the Minister of State and the Government on this legislation.

Several years ago, I introduced a Private Members' Bill in this House proposing that LAMA, the Local Authority Members Association, would have nominating rights to the Seanad. The previous Government voted against that Private Members' Bill. While I welcome the Bill, I welcome the amendments proposed by the Government more. Those proposals give rights to the Local Authority Members Association as a nominating body to Seanad Éireann and also to the AILG, the Association of Irish Local Government, which is an amalgamation of the municipal authorities and the Association of City and County Councils. It is a very straightforward Bill. Senator David Norris's comments on the question of university voting should be noted.

It has not been a good week for councillors or the body politic as a result of the RTE programme which we all witnessed. It is important to state that the vast majority of local authority members from all parties, and none, are good, decent, hard-working people who represent their communities as best they possibly can with little remuneration. They have larger areas to deal with and more meetings to attend. I have just come from a meeting with independent councillors who have sent a submission on the workload of councillors, the work they do and the difficulties encountered. I have asked that a copy of that be circulated to all Senators so we can examine it. The Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, has a copy of it and officials will also look at it. I do not wish to detain the House any further. I welcome the Bill and thank the Minister of State for agreeing to include the Local Authority Members Association as a nominating body for the Seanad. I hope these two organisations will use their nominations wisely.

I welcome this very short technical Bill which makes little change to the Seanad Electoral (Panel members) Act 1947. I welcome the small changes it makes. In particular, as the Opposition leader, I welcome the inclusion of the Local Authority Members Association. I remember well the legislation Senator Maurice Cummins mentioned. While I supported it, the Senator will appreciate that when one is in government, one sometimes has to do things one does not want to. I certainly did not want to oppose the Senator's Bill at the time. I welcome the fact that the Minister of State is introducing, on behalf of the Government, an amendment to this Bill to include LAMA as a nominating body. I pay tribute to Councillors Mags Murray, Sean McGowan, Michael Anglim, Bobby O'Connell and Hugh McElvaney who campaigned very hard on this issue, to me personally. I pay tribute to them here this evening. I was a member of the then General Council of County Councillors, which had a nomination to the administrative panel, the panel on which I was nominated. I welcome that the IALG is now entitled to a nomination. There are two further nominations to the panel that I will be contesting in the forthcoming election. We are democrats and we put ourselves out there for election and hopefully we will get elected. I wish whoever is lucky enough to get either of those nominations the very best of luck in the forthcoming election. I welcome the changes to the ballot paper, particularly for those people who suffer with sight difficulties, are illiterate or have difficulties with reading. I welcome those changes.

As Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill has stated, the university electoral system already allows candidates free postage. Perhaps the Minister of State will clarify why that is included in this Bill. I am confused about why, if it already exists, it is necessary to put it into this Bill.

I pay tribute to all colleagues who lobbied on behalf of the various council representative bodies for these particular nominations. We are all aware that councillors work extremely hard throughout the length and breadth of their electoral areas. We see it first hand on television and have witnessed some councillors involved in their communities that are unfortunately flooded. They are there representing their communities and doing their best to alleviate or help to alleviate the difficulties they are now facing. On a daily basis, on myriad issues, they are there at the front line of their communities representing the people who have put faith in and elected them.

On the RTE programme that was broadcast on Tuesday night, I know two of the three councillors featured in that personally and I have found those two councillors to be hard-working, decent and honourable people. I will hold any judgment on those two councillors who I know very well until such time as a proper investigation is carried out. I have concerns about the way some of that broadcast was edited and presented to the public. I will not jump on any bandwagon to bash anybody until I am satisfied of the bona fides of that. It could take some time for that to become clear. I will not rush to judgment. I take people as I see them and those two individuals, one from Sligo and one from Monaghan, whom I know personally, are decent people and elected by their communities for many, many years. I hope they will continue to be so into the future. The all-party fight will continue to improve the pay and conditions of the councillors of this country. I thank the Leader for his assistance in this House and with the different Government agencies.

I support the Bill.

I am pleased the Government has decided to introduce an amendment to include the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, as a nominating body. Senator Diarmuid Wilson, in particular, will be very happy with that.

The need for reform of the Seanad is well known by all now, and the Leader has twice brought the group that prepared the report for the Taoiseach on reform into the Seanad for debate. In time I know that will move forward and that the Leader himself has committed to moving that forward, so I know that will happen. We should be proud of this Bill, together with the Bill introduced by Senator Diarmuid Wilson last week, to make as democratic a job as we can of Seanad elections, given the constraints we currently work under.

I speak with pride of the two organisations that are included. There are county councillors all over this country who work day and night. As Senator Diarmuid Wilson has just pointed out, they are out on the highways and byways at the moment with flooded fields and property, packing sandbags outside houses in Limerick, Athlone, the village of Craughwell and Bandon in County Cork. Nobody wants to take a camera to them and see what they are doing. Nobody wants to interview them and ask them what they were doing at 3 a.m. when they were out trying to save property and people.

I have serious concerns. I wish to inform the House that I have written to the RTE Authority today to lodge a formal complaint about the programme on Monday night. I do not for one moment defend any form of corruption, but it is my understanding a number of councillors who were approached by the programme, which was ten months in the making, were unwilling to participate in any way once they heard money was being put on the table. RTE did not publish that fact, which is seriously remiss of the programme because it creates a biased view of local councillors in this country, the people about whom Senators Diarmuid Wilson, Maurice Cummins and various others have spoken who are working hard to make their communities better places. That is despicable.

I have also written to the Garda Commissioner and asked her to carry out what I would regard as a proper investigation without any form of inducement or what some call entrapment. If people are guilty of some form of corruption in this country then they have no place in public life. The Taoiseach said this himself. The leaders of all the parties have said it. The Leader of this House said it on Tuesday morning, that there was no place for people if they were involved in any form of corruption. I believe everybody in the body politic feels the same way.

This is a good piece of work. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Ann Phelan, for bringing the Bill to the House. I fully support the Bill. I know that might go down a little bit poorly with the lads on the other side who normally expect me to be against these things but I fully support the Bill. It is a great day’s work. I look forward to the nominations from LAMA and the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG. As I will not go to either looking for a nomination, I can do it without any fear or favour.

That is a relief.

I thank the Minister of State very much.

I thank all the Senators for their positive remarks and their support for the Bill. We do not claim the Bill is the be-all and end-all to electoral ills but, nonetheless, the measures contained in it are very important.

Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill mentioned wider political reform. The Government has a fine record on political reform. In the area of political funding, we effectively banned corporate donations and significantly reduced the limits of donations that can be accepted. We have introduced a provision to incentivise the participation of women. Political party accounts are to be submitted to the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, for 2015 and they will be published in 2016. Constituency boundaries for all elections have been revised to improve the balance of representation.

On the matter of the electoral commission, in January 2015 the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, published a consultation paper on the establishment of an electoral commission and invited the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht to undertake a public consultation process on the paper and report back to him. The committee completed its consultation at the end of July 2015 and I understand has finalised its report which will be launched shortly. The report will inform the development of the electoral commission Bill. When launching the consultation paper last January, the Minister made it clear that the task of establishing an electoral commission involves a significant job of work and will take a number of years to complete. Consideration of the outcome of the consultation process and development of legislation is a necessary first step.

In response to Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill’s suggestion for a candidate freepost, it is open to all candidates to combine their efforts and issue one combined letter to voters. A change in the law is not necessary for that to take place.

Changes will be made to ballot papers to assist visually impaired voters. I thank the good Senator Norris for his kind words. I am sure the Senator will welcome the removal of the italics and parentheses.

Senator Diarmuid Wilson also sought clarification. The university postage amendment is a technical one, moving the provision from one Act to another. I explained the reason for that when I spoke on the Bill earlier and he can refer to the detail in the speech. I will speak on the matter raised by Senator Cáit Keane when we deal with the amendments.

Question put and agreed to.
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