The law governing the conduct of elections, covering as it does the constitution of the Legislature, is, as I need hardly emphasise here, one of the most important branches of the law of the State; and again, as I need hardly emphasise, it is vitally important that it should be clear and easily understood by all who are directly concerned with it, whether as officials, electors, candidates at elections or members of the Oireachtas.
Unfortunately, this is far from being the position at the moment. The law is obscure, and in many instances, open to conflicting interpretations. This is partly due to the age and partly to the multiplicity of statutes dealing with electoral matters. There is one statute which dates from the 14th century and others from the 17th century. Many of these old Acts are obsolete, but nevertheless they are still there and their very existence in print, without specific repeal, could give rise to doubts and difficulties.
I have tried to the limited extent possible to me to improve certain procedures about which complaints have been made to me. The publication of the electors' lists on paper of a different colour from that of the final register, and the extra publicity which I arranged for both the lists and the register of electors are examples of what I have in mind. But the scope for improvements in this way, without legislation, is necessarily limited. What is needed is a more drastic review of the electoral law within the terms of this motion.
This review could cover such anomalies as that the Constitution provides that any person over the age of twenty-one may, unless disqualified by law, vote at a Dáil election, while the law in regard to the registration of electors provides that a person must be twenty-one years of age on the 15th September before his name can be entered in the register which comes into force on the following 15th April. This means that a person who reached the age of twenty-one years on 16th September, 1959, could not be registered and, therefore, could not vote until 15th April, 1961, when he would be more than twenty-two years of age.
Eligibility for membership of this House is by the Constitution linked with eligibility for the Dáil and on this question of eligibility, while I do not want to go into detail, I would like to say that what is needed is a single comprehensive measure which is easily understood and—more important still—one which lays down a clear and definite procedure for dealing with cases where a person becomes ineligible to sit in either House.
These subjects affect so closely the members of both Houses of the Oireachtas that it was considered appropriate that a Joint Committee of both Houses would be the best form of body to carry out the sort of investigation we had in mind and make recommendations for the improvement of the existing position. The members of the Committee, being members of each House, would have their wide and practical experience of registration and elections to guide them in making their recommendations.
Lest what I have said about the number and antiquity of some of the statutes still in existence without specific repeal, may conjure up a picture in some minds of laborious collation and research, I wish to say that the general scheme of a Bill has been prepared in my Department, and will be submitted as a general guide— a starting point—for discussion by the proposed Committee. This scheme contains suggestions for improvements in the existing law. The suggestions are, I may say, mainly of a detailed nature, concerned more with the improvement of the machinery and procedure of registration and election and with questions of eligibility for membership of the Houses of the Oireachtas, than with any of the broader questions of policy. This scheme has not been examined in detail by the Government and does not necessarily represent their views. I do not think, therefore, that I should go into details of it here.
Some Senators may wonder why election petitions were not included within the terms of reference of the proposed Committee. The law on this subject is obsolete, and was designed for single-member constituencies and a limited franchise. Important though the problem is, it would be premature to decide on what is to be done about the law on election petitions until the Oireachtas have decided on the qualifications and disqualifications for membership of the Houses of the Oireachtas, and how these qualifications and disqualifications are to operate.
A further point, though one which I am sure could be overcome if the objection to which I have just referred did not exist, is that we would like the proposed Committee to report within a reasonably short time; and I am sure that members opposite will join with me in expressing this hope. To include election petitions among the many other matters covered by the Committee's terms of reference, might have the effect of overloading the Committee somewhat and delaying their findings on the primary questions.
In conclusion, I may say that when this motion was moved in the other House, representatives of the Opposition Parties indicated the agreement of their Parties to co-operate in the establishment of the Committee. At the same time, they reserved their right fully to discuss, criticise and, if necessary, dissent from the proposals the Government may bring in as a result of the Committee's report. I accepted this position; and I too, must make it clear that while great weight will be given to the recommendations of the Committee, which must, because of the nature of the Committee's membership, carry the greatest value, especially if those recommendations are unanimous, the Government must naturally reserve a similar freedom of action.
