Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 28 November 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government

Local and European Elections 2024 and Subsequent General Election: Discussion

Mr. Art O'Leary:

Yes. Some of the recommendations might have constitutional implications as well, certainly around voting age and perhaps with the 20,000 to 30,000 figure I mentioned earlier. They are just recommendations. Deputy Ó Broin asked whether we as an agency had sufficient powers, etc. The real test of whether this organisation is going to be taken seriously relates to what happens to recommendations we make. There is a long history, perhaps, of agencies and bodies making recommendations that are ignored, but this is something we will take seriously and will, I suppose, affect the level of ambition of our future research programme.