Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

In regard to local government functions, this is probably not a matter with which the Referendum Commission or Standards in Public Office Commission would have been much engaged. We have not taken a public view in regard to how an electoral commission would function at local government level. In regard to the sequence of functions to be transferred and the timing of transfer, a big bang is very high risk. Having a clear model for transfer of functions and a phased gearing up of an electoral commission is probably a much safer approach. Some functions will be easier to transfer than others. Incorporation of Referendum Commission functions and the creation of a permanent referendum management focus in an electoral commission could probably be done relatively easily. In terms of what the Referendum Commission has done in the past, that would probably be something that could be an early transfer.

There is a distinction between heavy spend areas and regulatory-type functions. Starting with regulatory-type functions may be less problematic than moving a programme like central oversight of the electoral register. That would probably be a big project which would involve an IT requirement and significant logistics to make it work.

On the final question about who should appoint members of the commission, my colleagues and I areex officio members of commissions and that makes it easy to ensure there is no political interference or political question around the persons who are involved in the commissions. I suppose there could be an element of continuing that type of appointment to the commission and there are other models in the administrative system whereby people are ex officio members of a commission or of a similar structure. Whether that gives the right blend of skills and experience and perspectives is a question and maybe it is a blended appointment structure. Mr. Tyndall may have other observations.