Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

My question is not a priority for the Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government but it is probably a topical question in light of last week's events. At a recent committee meeting we had a detailed discussion on the importance of political research, the reasons behind voting and why people vote a given way. One of the key points was that political scientists had committed funding from 2002 to 2007. The project gave significant information on why people voted. There were different reasons, including political views, political values and other reasons people chose to vote or not to vote. Since then, the scientists have only received money on an ad hoc basis and cannot carry out the same level of detail in research work. The question to us at the time was twofold. The first part related to the establishment of the electoral commission and when that would happen. In the absence of the commission, is there any possibility of securing defined funding on an annual basis to allow them to get ready for elections and to be ready to try to get research information that is vital for the Oireachtas in future?