Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I welcome the Minister of State. Section 8(2)(h) of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947 states that the General Council of County Councils and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland shall be registered in the register in respect of the administrative panel for Seanad nominations. The Local Authority Members Association (LAMA) was founded almost 30 years ago and fulfils a similar role to that of the two representative associations mentioned in the 1947 Act. Section 266 of the Local Government Act 2001 states:

A member of a local authority may, in his or her own right, hold membership of the association known as the Local Authority Members Association.

Therefore, the bona fides of LAMA is recognised in the Local Government Act 2001. The Local Authority Members Association, since its inception, has been granted parity of esteem with the other two representative associations by all Ministers with responsibility for local government. In fact, a former Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Noel Dempsey, was an officer of LAMA for a number of years.

When the Minister, Deputy Gormley, held all-party meetings to discuss Seanad reform I asked that my Bill form part of those proposals and it was accepted by the Minister and by all present that mine was a reasonable request and would correct an anomaly. This is a simple Bill which addresses that anomaly by granting the Local Authority Members Association the same nominating rights as section 8(ll)(h) of the 1947 Act confers on the General Council of County Councils and the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland (AMAI).

The General Council of County Councils has, in the meantime, changed its name to the Association of County and City Councils (ACCI) and I have changed the reference in the Bill from the "General Council of County Councils" to the "Association of County and City Councils" to reflect this change in name.

Why is this Bill necessary? The Local Authority Members Association has applied on several occasions to be included in the list of nominating bodies eligible to nominate a person to contest a Seanad election. The request was refused on each occasion. The only way it can become eligible is to amend the 1947 Act to give the association parity of esteem with the AMAI and ACCI. The Bill tries to address an anomaly which currently exists and I hope it will have the unanimous support of the House.

Some technical or consequential amendments may arise as a result of the Bill but I am not aware of these. If the Minister or the Government do not have amendments I would not object to having all stages of the Bill taken today, or in early course. I seek the support of all Members to address the anomaly that exists by not granting LAMA parity of esteem with the other two representative associations. I hope this short Bill will be unanimously supported.