Mr. Aidan Davitt:

I feel passionate after listening to Mr. Sean Donnelly; his presentation was very inspiring.

We represent the AILG, the Association of Irish Local Government, and are delighted to have been asked to make a submission. We represent 949 councillors throughout Ireland. Our submission was put together after much discussion at plenary and executive committee meetings. It is detailed, very broad and deals with all aspects, from registration to logistics on the day and boundary commissions, as well as, of course, the diaspora which has been mentioned by some of the other contributorsl.

I will briefly give our opinion on the establishment of an electoral commission. County and city councils have, in law, a valuable mandate to: "Promote interest among young people in democracy and local government and in community and civic affairs, generally". This was included in the Local Government Act 2001. Many local authorities are active in this manner, including in hosting local meetings of Dáil na nÓg and other educational activities such as facilitating groups of youths to visit council chambers and arranging visits of mayors to schools. The capacity of local government to organise and administer elections is intertwined with its mandate to educate and interest young people and the community generally in democracy. That is one of our main topics and one of the issues about which we feel exceptionally strongly.