Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 December 2023
316. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to provide a list of all correspondence, including dates, to and from the franchise section in his Department and the European Commission on Part 4 and Part 5 of the Electoral Reform Act from 2022 to the present; and to make a statement on the contents of this correspondence and to publish this correspondence on the Department’s website. [53452/23]
View answerThe provisions in Parts 4 and 5 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022 were formally notified in draft form to the European Commission in accordance with the notification requirements of Article 5 of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 September 2015 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and of rules on Information Society services.
The notification procedure, which is known as the Technical Regulation Information System (or TRIS) enables the European Commission and Member States to examine draft legislation before it enters into force in order to identify and prevent the creation of barriers to trade in the internal market before they materialise.
Part 4 was formally notified, via the National Standards Authority of Ireland who are the national contact point for notifications under Directive 2015/1535, to the European Commission on 4 April 2022 as notification 2022/184/IRL. In this regard, my Department has issued and received the following communications on notification 2022/184/IRL via the TRIS procedure:
• correspondence of 1 April 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland to request the notification of Part 4 of the Electoral Reform Bill to the European Commission under the TRIS procedure;
• correspondence of 4 April 2022 to confirm that the standstill period would end on 5 July 2022;
• correspondence of 16 May 2022 requesting supplementary information on the notified draft;
• correspondence of 27 May 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland enclosing a response to the request for supplementary information for submission to the European Commission;
• correspondence of 30 May 2022 to confirm that the supplementary information was received;
• correspondence of 30 June 2023 requesting a link to the latest version of the Electoral Reform Bill;
• correspondence of 30 June 2023 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland in connection with the response to the request of 30 June 2023 for submission to the European Commission;
• detailed opinion from the Commission of 5 July 2022 extending the standstill period to 5 August 2022;
• correspondence of 29 July 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland enclosing a response to the detailed opinion for submission to the European Commission;
• correspondence of 5 August 2022 to confirm the end of the standstill period;
• correspondence of 10 October 2022 inviting Ireland to further clarify the steps being taken to address the issues raised in the Commission’s detailed opinion;
• correspondence of 1 November 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland enclosing a response to the correspondence of 10 October 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland for submission to the European Commission; and
• correspondence of 6 December 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland enclosing an additional response for submission to the European Commission.
Separately, Part 5 was also formally notified, via the National Standards Authority of Ireland, to the European Commission on 30 May 2022 as notification 2022/376/IRL. In respect of that notification, my Department has issued and received the following communications via the TRIS procedure:
• correspondence of 30 May 2022 to confirm that the standstill period would end on 31 August 2022;
• correspondence of 12 July 2022 requesting supplementary information on the notified draft;
• correspondence of 25 July 2022 to the National Standards Authority of Ireland enclosing a response to the request for supplementary information for submission to the European Commission; and
• correspondence of 31 August 2022 outlining the Commission’s observations in respect of the notified draft and confirming that the standstill period was not being extended.
As the issues raised by the European Commission are not yet resolved and there remains a need for continued engagement, I have no proposals to publish the correspondence at this point in time.
Given the significant overlap between Part 4 and the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the transparency and targeting of political advertising , my Department has been engaging extensively on that proposal as it has progressed through the inter-institutional negotiations over the course of this year.
In this context, political agreement was reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the EU proposal on 6 November 2023. Technical discussions are continuing at working party level at Council with a view to the proposal’s formal adoption in early 2024.
Following the proposal’s formal adoption, my Department will give further consideration to the necessary adjustments to Part 4 of the Electoral Reform Act 2022.
In light of these developments, my Department will also examine Part 5 and the amendments that may be needed to commence its provisions as soon as practicable.
