Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

The capping and control of electoral expenditure is an issue on which the Labour Party has long and consistently campaigned in the House. I welcome the Bill, although it is coming at a late hour before the local and European elections.

In the wider context of electoral reform, this Bill is not the end product. A significant amount of further legislation must come before the House in order that elections are better regulated. One of the obvious areas needing reform is the electoral register, which is totally skewed. We had, for example, the situation in a constituency in County Cork where more people were on the register of electors than were registered by the census. There is only one way to resolve such situations and that is by moving to a PPS system, as recommended by the Select Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to the Minister. This is just one of countless issues that need consideration.

The issue of expenditure on elections is one that demanded examination. There is clear evidence, despite what others may have said, that it does not really matter how much money one spends. As Deputy Higgins said, somebody spending €15,000 trying to get elected to a town council or in a local authority area must be extremely unpopular. However, there is a connection between getting elected and how much money one spends.

The report of the Standards in Public Office Commission of 2003 stated that it is recognised internationally that having election spending limits in place is an important factor in fighting corruption and safeguarding the integrity of the electoral process. Six years ago that report recommended we should have this legislation. The report also stated that spending is positively and significantly related to electoral success and that there is a direct correlation between money spent and election outcome. This has been the determining factor for the decades since the foundation of the State.

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