Mr. Barry Ryan:

I thank the Deputy. The research programme contains a proposal to conduct a review of the 1997 Act. I am not aware that we gave any indication it would be a priority but it is an important piece of work that will be undertaken early in the new year.

The deadline for receipt of submissions is 12 January. I suspect the commission at its meeting in early February will assign its priorities for the research programme. There are dozens of proposals from people who would like to have work done. There is no point in the commission starting 50 research projects so there will have to be an element of prioritisation. I suspect a review of the 1997 Act will be one of those projects. It is a long-term priority. I know there are issues of concern to some NGOs in respect of some of the definitions in the Act, spending limits and all that. I heard that loud and clear as the Bill was going through the Houses during the past year.

The good thing about the research programme is that some of it will be done by in-house researchers but we will be in a position to identify specialists in niche areas. We can start a number of research projects at the same time. The chickens will come home to roost at various times in the course of the year. There are longer-term projects. The question around the provision in the Constitution to have one TD for every 20,000 to 30,000 people is something we probably need to look at. That is probably a longer-term project. There are some issues, such as postering, that have been identified as a priority for some. We might be able to deal with those issues relatively quickly.