Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

At the beginning of this debate, the whole area of how the drafting process works and the formation of electoral commissions was questioned. One of the issues we need to consider in future, and Limerick is a case in point, is that when the commission brings its report before us, it is a fait accompli. The Labour Party argues that there needs to be a draft process whereby the commission publishes a draft, public consultation follows on that draft, which remains with the commission, and the commission then forwards it to the Minister, who moves it into legislation. What we are doing at present is drafting at the legislative stage, which is not the way we should operate. There should be a particular period in which drafting is completed.

While I am not suggesting this is a miscellaneous electoral Bill, there was an expectation that before the Dáil concluded its business for the Christmas recess, a general if not a specific indication would have been given with regard to spending in next year's local elections. I envisaged that this Bill would have been a platform on which we could have achieved that measure. While the Minister does not need to indicate the specific amount, he might have indicated a general amount or guideline as to what that expenditure would be.

Most political parties are in the process of developing, or in some cases are up and running with, their plans for next year's local elections. However, they cannot budget because they do not know the specifics with regard to poster size, what posters can be used and so on. I do not know if it is a question of the Minister, Deputy Gormley's, indecisiveness, whether there are complexities involved or whether this will be rolled out before 4 June, when I understand the local elections are to take place. In the absence of providing us with any specifics in the Bill, I call on the Minister to indicate what the general sum of expenditure will be for the local elections. The Minister is on record as stating that spending limits will be in place for next year's local elections. It behoves him and he has a democratic duty to provide us with information on the operation of democratic structures in the State. It is not something that should remain on his desk. There is a democratic obligation on the Minister to provide us with that sum as we approach next year's local elections. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Michael P. Kitt, to bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and urge him to take action in that regard.

See this speech in context