Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

I was dealing with section 6 of the Bill, which requires some explanation. It arises as a technical issue, which was first raised by the Standards in Public Office Commission in regard to the definition of election expenses for the purposes of the Electoral Act 1997. Paragraph 2 of the Schedule to the Act set out certain items that were not to be regarded as election expenses for the purposes of the Act. Following the High Court and Supreme Court decisions in 2002 in the Desmond Kelly case, section 33 of the Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 deleted from paragraph 2 the references to services, facilities and so on provided from public funds.

The effect of that deletion is that, in accordance with the court rulings, such services are now reckonable for the purpose of making statements of election expenses to the commission. However, the section 33 deletion was inadvertently drafted to remove from paragraph 2 of the Schedule a number of other items which were not an issue in the court case and which most people would regard as not reckonable. These items included, first, the free postage, which we know as the litir um toghchán, a service available to all candidates, second, a service provided free by an individual or provided by an employee of a political party, third, normal media coverage and, fourth, the transmission on radio or television of a broadcast on behalf of a candidate or political party.

It is quite clear that it was never intended the deletion should cover these items. The practical implications of it covering these items are difficult to contemplate. It was never intended to provide that these items would be regarded as election expenses. They would not have been brought into the reckoning in any reasonable interpretation of election expenses. They were never intended by this House or by the Oireachtas to be covered as part of the 1997 Act. The current Bill, therefore, redresses the situation by inserting a subparagraph in paragraph 2 of the Schedule of the 1997 Act, clarifying that the items at issue are not to be regarded as election expenses at presidential, Dáil or European elections, thereby returning to the position in respect of these items that existed prior to the 2004 enactment.

I accept that the Bill is important for existing and prospective Members of the House. It is important for the electorate they serve and for the democratic process as a whole. There is a certain inflexibility which I must of necessity apply in the Bill. I commend the Bill to the House.

See this speech in context