These amendments provide for inclusion in the statutory procedure for filling casual vacancies, a requirement that the political party concerned confirm to the Clerk of the Dáil that the person concerned is still a member of the party. I have a certain sympathy with these amendments and I appreciate the points being made, however, we could create a serious problem if we were to accept the amendments.
We would be putting the Clerk of the Dáil in the position of having to adjudicate between a political party and a replacement candidate who is, was or claims to be a member of that party. The replacement candidate may have delivered to the Clerk, a statutory declaration duly sworn that he fulfils all the conditions necessary to succeed to the vacant seat, including being a member of the party concerned. At the same time, the political party may hand the Clerk a statement that the person is not a member of the party. What is the Clerk to do in these circumstances? He is not a court and he is not in position to establish which of the conflicting statements is correct.
We are seeking to give the Clerk a role similar to that of a returning officer at an election. He is required to receive certain documents. If the documents are regular and valid on their face, he is required to take certain action. If they are not regular and valid on their face, he must reject them and take another course of action. He is not and cannot be concerned with the intrinsic truth or correctness of the statements in the document. It cannot be his function to act as a judge and jury in the matter.
There is a built-in delay of seven days in the procedure. The purpose of this delay is to enable anybody aggrieved to take appropriate action in the courts. I believe the system proposed in the Bill will work. The revised procedures outlined in the Bill for filling vacancies are intended to strengthen the position of the individual replacement candidate vis-�-visthat of the party.
The changes arise from the circumstance of filling a casual vacancy in the Dublin constituency in 1992. This led to a Resolution of the European Parliament that our legislation be amended to provide that the order of priority of replacement candidates be fixed at election time so that no subsequent selection or confirmation procedure is required to determine a candidate's succession to a seat that has fallen vacant. Arising from that, we are changing the existing procedure to meet that requirement.
The people on the B list, selected in that order by the electorate, have priority over any other decision made by an political party in any form. I ask that the amendments be withdrawn. The requirement of a statutory declaration from the candidate in stating his case for the vacancy is a strong measure and one that is not required anywhere else in our electoral procedure. The making of a false statement on a statutory declaration is a serious offence.