Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late; I was introducing legislation in the Dáil. I am sure it has been said but it is great to have the Electoral Commission before us. We know from the passage of the legislation through the Oireachtas there was cross-party universal support for the establishment of the commission. With the exception of one area of the legislation, which I will come to presently, there was very strong consensus about how this has been done. It is great the witnesses are here and are starting this work. We all wish them a fair wind.

I want to raise a number of specific areas with the Electoral Commission and the Department. One of the big issues debated at great length here was the role the commission will play in increasing electoral participation, particularly among sections of society which, for a variety of reasons, have lower levels of participation. These include young people, migrant communities, those from economically disadvantaged areas and Travellers. I am very keen to hear, even at this early stage and I know there will be consultation on the research programme, where the commission is at on this. It would seem to be an important and fundamental part of its work and I would like to hear the thinking of the witnesses on it. I would like any further information the witnesses can give us on the research programme, even with regard to the consultation and what level of engagement they are getting.

There is the thorny issue of very hastily introduced last-minute amendments to the Bill on online regulation and the discomfort it caused the European Commission, particularly in terms of conflict with the e-commerce directive. This may be more for the franchise section then the commission. Will the witnesses give us an update on where this is at? Have these issues being resolved? Will there have to be further changes to the primary legislation to overcome these matters?

My next question might be unfair to Mr. O'Leary in his first hearing in his new role. State agencies can have different forms. We can have very strong and positive State agencies with a lot of independent power and punch, such as the Environmental Protection Agency or the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. We also know there are agencies that have very important roles, such as SIPO, which are not often given full legislative independence or responses to requests for further powers are not necessarily forthcoming from the Government. How satisfied is Mr. O'Leary that the Electoral Commission has all of the powers it requires, given the limited staff and the fact it is only up and running? The hope is that over time the commission will grow in an appropriate manner to be a very strong, fully independent body to ensure we have the best possible electoral system and electoral processes.