Mr. Peter Tyndall:

I am going to deliver the statement that would have been delivered by the chairman of the Standards in Public Office Commission, Mr. Justice O'Keeffe, who, unfortunately, cannot be with us today.

On behalf of the Standards in Public Office Commission, I welcome the opportunity given to the commission by the committee to make a formal submission setting out the views of the commission on this new venture, which is likely to have a profound impact on the electoral process in Ireland in the next few years.

I also welcome the opportunity to address members today, to answer any questions they may have and to contribute to the debate on the matter. Hopefully, our contributions will help the joint committee in making informed decisions on this very important matter.

The Standards in Public Office Commission is very much in favour of the establishment of an electoral commission to bring together under one umbrella all the functions and responsibilities of the electoral system. If, as seems to be the intention, the new electoral commission takes on functions such as maintaining the electoral register, managing elections and referendums, maintaining the register of political parties and the like, then, to the Standards in Public Office Commission, it seems to make perfect sense to transfer to the electoral commission the responsibilities under the electoral legislation that currently are under the control of the Standards in Public Office Commission.

The Public Offices Commission was established in 1995 with responsibility for one piece of legislation only, namely, the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995. Other responsibilities were subsequently added under the electoral legislation, which would more appropriately have been assigned to an electoral commission, had one existed in 1997 when the Electoral Act was applied. The Standards in Public Office Commission was established in 2001 and the functions conferred on the Public Offices Commission by the 1997 Act were conferred on the Standards in Public Office Commission. Perhaps the time is now right for the Standards in Public Office Commission or its successor, given the review of the ethics legislation, to revert to its original role of supervising political activity under the ethics legislation, including the additional responsibilities recently added under the lobbying legislation, rather than electoral matters which are more appropriate to an electoral commission.

It seems to the Standards in Public Office Commission that the timing of this review of the electoral processes, with the establishment of an electoral commission, is opportune as it coincides, as I mentioned, with the review of the ethics legislation that was announced last week. The public sector standards Bill will have implications for the staffing of the Standards in Public Office Commission but if certain of its functions under the electoral legislation are transferred to the new electoral commission, then the overall effect on the staffing complement should turn out to be neutral, given the additional responsibilities that are likely to be involved under the public sector standards Bill. It is important therefore, that both items of legislation are processed through the Oireachtas at the same time in order that it will be apparent to Members of the Oireachtas how decisions with regard to one item of legislation may have an effect on the other.

The Standards in Public Office Commission is available and would like to be engaged in the development of the new legislation on the setting up of the electoral commission and indeed in respect of the development of the new public sector standards Bill.