Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

No. It is a pity, because it should have been. We discussed some referendums and by-elections which are not yet on the calendar.

I am a firm believer in the use of plain English or Irish. We should not forget that 25% of the public in our society is functionally illiterate. There is another volume of people on top of that who are afraid of forms and officialdom. If we couch anything in official language or take a convoluted approach, it makes it difficult for them. When ballot papers are being prepared, we need to join the officials in doing whatever we can to prevent people from spoiling their votes. If there are people out there who want to spoil their votes, that is fine in some ways.

I do not believe the outcome of the referendum that has been mentioned related solely to the form that was used. The same kind of question was put when the death penalty was overwhelmingly rejected. The people were asked "do you agree to remove the death penalty?" or something like that. People were not confused about whether they were voting for the death penalty or against it. They understood what to do. Part of the onus to get the message out there in a proper format is on us. I believe there is nothing to prevent us from producing the wording and detailing the format at an early stage.

I heard what was said about the use of a headline, but there is nothing to prevent the use of a headline term like "Seanad Éireann" or "Death Penalty", which would not involve taking a position one way or the other. I think it would end a certain form of confusion when there is more than one referendum. Some people want to vote in one referendum and not in another. The Referendum Commission probably has figures to show that people have left ballot papers blank in some cases because they were unable to make up their minds. When we voted on the abolition of the death penalty, two other referendums were held on the same day. Some people were confused about the other issues, or did not engage with them.

I suggest that this debate points to the need for a permanent electoral commission that could deal with these issues on an ongoing basis. As this is a political question, I do not expect the officials to answer it. Perhaps such a commission could try to promote voter education in schools and in wider society so that this kind of confusion is less likely to arise. In any democracy, there is always a discussion about ballot papers. Concerns have been expressed about the shape of the normal ballot paper. I understand that up to 28 candidates are running in the forthcoming local elections in some areas, which will necessitate the use of a long sheet of paper. The difficulty with folding over the ballot paper, as is done in some countries, is that the candidates on the back page will complain that they are not accessible. Similarly, there have been complaints that the use of alphabetical order when listing the candidates in an election means that some of them receive preferable treatment simply by virtue of having a surname that begins with a certain letter. Obviously, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has grappled with such issues. I suggest that the Referendum Commission should be allowed to make decisions on them.

I encourage those involved to look at the layout of referendum ballot papers to make sure the language is clear. I appreciate that some of the language comes from the legislation we pass to provide for the referendum. An additional complication is the fact that the Irish-language version of the Bill is on one side and the English-language version of it is on the other side. When such Bills come before us, it can be very confusing to work out which section to try to amend. There is much to be said for straight talking and plain English. I am sure the Plain English Campaign is still out there.