Phil Hogan
Ceist:5 Deputy Phil Hogan asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government his plans to amend the Electoral Act; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22611/10]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 27 May 2010
Ceisteanna (5)
Freagraí ó Béal (20 píosaí cainte)
Electoral law is subject to ongoing review to make necessary changes to maintain and develop a robust and modern legal framework as a principal element of the operation of our democratic system. In the past five years, five separate electoral Bills have been enacted. In 2009 alone, two were enacted. Looking over the past ten years, an average of one electoral Bill per year was enacted by the Oireachtas having been brought forward by me, as Minister, or by one of my predecessors.
More recently, in February 2010, I published a general scheme of legislation to provide for a directly elected mayor for Dublin. Within this context, necessary legislative provisions in respect of the holding of a mayoral election are currently being developed. These include amendments to the Electoral Acts.
My other plans for amendment of the Electoral Acts relate to the establishment of an electoral commission and to considerations on financing the political system.
The programme for Government, agreed in 2007, contains a commitment to the establishment of an independent electoral commission. The renewed programme for Government, agreed in October 2009, reaffirms this commitment and identifies a range of responsibilities which the commission will be mandated to fulfil.
An independent electoral commission will require new legislation for purposes of its establishment and to transfer to it a range of roles and responsibilities including those assigned to the Standards in Public Office Commission in electoral law, those of the Constituency Commission and those currently assigned to me, as Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. This will involve changes to more than 20 primary Acts and to the associated regulations.
Towards implementing the programme for Government commitments, and to assist in consideration of the issues involved, I commissioned a report by an expert group from University College Dublin. I published the report, entitled "A Preliminary Study on the Establishment of an Electoral Commission in Ireland", for consultation in February 2009. The UCD study recommends that an electoral commission be established through the enactment of an electoral commission Act. This Act would amend and consolidate the law in this area, bringing together in one Act the law relating to referendums and elections to local authorities, Údarás na Gaeltachta, the European Parliament, Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and the office of President of Ireland. This would be a major task and it is part of our considerations.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
The Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Constitution is currently undertaking an examination of the system used for the election of members of Dáil Éireann, and in the course of this work has considered issues in respect of the administration and functioning of Ireland's electoral system generally. The outcome of the committee's deliberations should also inform work on the amendment of the Electoral Acts to deliver on the Government's electoral reform commitments.
In addition, the 2009 renewed programme for Government contains a commitment to restricting political donations to individual Irish citizens and residents and to setting up a new political fund to which donations from private bodies would be made. I am now giving consideration to approaches to the implementation of this commitment, which will also require amendments to the Electoral Acts.
Would the Minister agree that, after three years in office and after putting this in the programme for Government in 2007, the Government's passage of this piece of legislation is quite tardy? He has not even published the heads of a Bill on the independent electoral commission. When will the statutory independent electoral commission, which we support, be established? Nobody on this side of the House would have any difficulty with it. We are just waiting for the Minister to publish a report. Maybe he is having difficulties with his partners in Government.
When will the election for the directly elected Dublin mayor be held? The Minister has stated that it is his intention to hold it this year, but could he be more definitive than that? Intentions are lovely. He had intentions in 2007 about setting up an electoral commission and we have not yet seen it. When will the Dublin mayoral election be?
We will have the legislation published before the end of this session. I stated that definitively. I have stated, and announced the other evening, as Deputy Hogan will be aware, in response to his own Private Members' Bill, that I will be setting up the electoral commission on a non-statutory basis. The legislation that is required to set it up on a statutory basis is complex and will take a considerable amount of time. However, there are practical difficulties because the franchise section in my Department must concentrate on the considerable amount of work on the mayoralty legislation it is doing in tandem with the Attorney General's office and Parliamentary Counsel, and that is taking a considerable amount of time and effort. Resources cannot be diverted and that is why I stated the other evening that I wanted to set up the electoral commission on a non-statutory basis to begin with.
I also stated, as Deputy Hogan may recall, that when the UCD study was published we asked for observations from various political parties. We received one from the Labour Party but we got no submission from Deputy Hogan's party.
The Minister did not need any submission from me. We had it already published and it was on our website. It is called New Politics. If the Minister wants a hard copy of it, I would have no difficulty providing one. The Minister is high on rhetoric and low on output in terms of his promised electoral reform.
Will the Minister be asking the chairman of his party to withdraw remarks made in the context of by-elections when we were discussing my party's Private Members' Bill on setting a limit for the filling of casual vacancies, namely this notion that the filling of casual vacancies within six months would undermine the Government mandate? What does that say about democracy and electoral reform? Could I ask if the Minister will be asking the chairman of his party to withdraw those remarks?
The Minister is not responsible for his party to the House. He is responsible for the Government.
As Senator Boyle is one of the Taoiseach's 11, the Minister is entitled to comment on that.
The Leas-Cheann Comhairle has put it well. The fact is that we responded in detail to Deputy Hogan's Private Members' Bill.
The Minister just said "No".
Interestingly, when the Deputy considers these matters, I am not sure that he is in such a hurry to have a by-election in Dublin South.
We are. The Minister certainly is not.
Bring it on.
Allow the Minister.
Do not be afraid.
Allow the Minister to reply.
I very much doubt if my good colleague in Fine Gael, Deputy McGinley, is too anxious to proceed so quickly with the by-election in Donegal.
The candidate is selected.
Sometimes there is a great deal of posturing in this House. Fine Gael moved the writ for Waterford, but I will tell Deputy Hogan what my personal view on those matters is. I have said it on a number of occasions and I will repeat it again. It makes sense from a cost-effectiveness point of view to hold all of these elections together - that is, the mayoralty election, the by-elections and the referendum on the constitutional changes that are required. These all could be held at the same time.
They all will be on the same day as the Dublin mayoral elections.
And the children's referendum, all on one day.
That concludes Priority Questions.