Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for the quality of the amendments in general today. They are very good and have sparked continuing debate about the commission and the legislation.

There is the point around unintentionally spoiled votes and voters voting all the way down a ballot paper. It is not just a commitment from me or the Minister; it will be the commitment of the commission, which will have an independent statutory function. Therefore, the commitment around that voter education and participation function will be ongoing, regardless of who is in the Department. That is an important point to make.

With regard to the New Zealand experience of the use of advocates and the commission there, our commission will be tasked with looking at what works well and what does not work well in other jurisdictions in terms of voter participation. Again, it is back to the members of this committee to participate in that and to direct the commission on what areas of research they would like it to carry out.

It is critical that the voter education part takes place and is an ongoing process, and is not just around electoral cycles or electoral events. It needs to be ongoing, it needs to be immersive and it needs to be right across society, including in schools. Many people of our age - I should say of my age - do not know how to vote correctly at times, so a lot of work needs to be done, which is something the commission will be committed to doing.

As Deputy Ó Broin said in the context of trying to be prescriptive about its research function, we can see the points that Deputy O'Callaghan is trying to bring forward. That is certainly something the franchise section has been doing consistently anyway and the commission will be tasked with doing this when it is established.

Chapter 9 of Part 2 of the Bill provides for the commission to take on a new policy research and advisory function. As part of its work, the commission will promote public awareness of, and work to increase, public participation in the State’s electoral and democratic processes through education and information programmes. This is an expansion of the work which referendum commissions carried out as part of their roles.

Many of the actions set out in the amendment are matters the commission will be minded to pursue in compliance with its public awareness role.

In the main, these are really good ideas. However, it is essential that the commission, as an independent body, have the freedom to decide as to how it goes about fulfilling its public information mandate. Notwithstanding the important role the Referendum Commission played in the past, this is a new role in our electoral landscape, and leaving the decision-making with the commission will give it the flexibility to adjust its approach and emphasis over time. To date, I have avoided the legislation being overly prescriptive in this regard. Members will have gathered that from this afternoon's proceedings. In continuing that approach, I am not in a position to accept the amendments.