11 Jun 2014, 10:36
The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions will tomorrow launch a report on ballot paper design in the recent Seanad Referendum. The report will contain a number of important recommendations to enhance ballot paper design in future referendums.
11 June 2014
Event: Launch of Report on the Design and Layout of Ballot Papers used in the Seanad Referendum October 2013
Location: The Plinth, Leinster House
Date: Thursday, 12 June 2014
Time: 11am
Chairman of the Committee Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD says: “Research by the Referendum Commission has indicated that there was considerable public confusion around the ballot paper in the recent referendums held last October. The potential impact of this confusion on the democratic process is a source of concern to our Committee. While this research indicates that the proposal to abolish the Seanad would still have been rejected, the margin of rejection would have been slightly greater. On foot of a series of public and private hearings on the matter, the Committee will publish a report with important recommendations, particularly in regard to research, so that lessons can be learned from the most recent referendum and applied to both future referenda and elections.”
Committee Vice-Chairman Derek Nolan TD and a number of other Committee Members will be in attendance.
The report will be available on the Oireachtas website www.oireachtas.ie from 11 am tomorrow Thursday 12 June.
To attend this event you must be accredited to attend photocalls in Leinster House. To arrange for accreditation for the event or for further information please contact:
Paul Hand,
Communications Unit,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2
P: +3531 618 4484
M: +353 87 694 9926
Committee Membership
Deputies:
Richard Boyd-Barrett, Independent
Noel Harrington, Fine Gael
Michael Healy-Rae, Independent
Seamus Kirk, Fianna Fáil
Michael P. Kitt, Fianna Fáil
Pádraig MacLochlainn (Chairman), Sinn Fein
Helen McEntee, Fine Gael
Michelle Mulherin, Fine Gael
Derek Nolan (Vice-Chair), Labour
Patrick O'Donovan, Fine Gael
Aengus Ó Snodaigh, Sinn Féin
Sean Kenny, Labour
John Halligan, Independent
Jack Wall, Labour
Senators:
Trevor Ó Clochartaigh, Sinn Féin
Jimmy Harte, Labour
Tony Mulcahy, Fine Gael
Susan O’Keeffe, Labour
Ned O'Sullivan, Fianna Fáil