Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

The Labour Party will back this motion. This is the second time this motion has come before the House. It came before the House last July. Perhaps legitimate concerns could have been raised at that time because had the by-election been called, it would have been held at the beginning of August in the middle of the holiday season. However, a year has passed since the call to issue the writ was made last July and there is no excuse for what the Government is doing at present. In fact, there was no excuse for its failure to hold the by-election on the day of the second Lisbon treaty referendum. Consequently, Members are witnessing deliberate prevarication by the Government to defer and to put off the inevitable giving of a day to the public in County Donegal on which they can determine who will represent them.

The issue of by-elections to this House in recent years and in particular during the lifetime of this Government is creating a dangerous precedent. Counties Donegal and Waterford and the constituency of Dublin South are without representatives in this House. I can understand the Government's position to some extent because by its own reckoning, it will not win any of the seats in question and were the three by-elections to be called, the country would enter general election territory. Perhaps this is the only reason for deferment of all the by-elections on an ongoing basis. It has been indicated that an election will be held to choose a mayor of Dublin sometime in the early autumn. In his response, the Minister of State might commit the Government to holding the aforementioned three by-elections on the same day, if such an election is to take place.

However, I believe none of the three by-elections will take place. Moreover, I believe the Government will try to stymie the election of a mayor of Dublin because of the consequences arising from the three by-elections coming into play on the same day. Similarly, other matters, such as referendums on children's rights and so on will be put on the back burner as the Government does everything within its power to hang on to power and to ensure that such elections will not take place.

I will conclude by noting that European elections are held every five years. This is predictable and they coincide with the local elections. It is almost inevitable that one outcome of these elections is that one or more Members of this House will be elected to the European Parliament. It is about time to put in place legislation or a Standing Order on this issue. I note this is not a constitutional issue and does not require constitutional change. Consequently, Standing Orders of the House should be adapted to set out a predetermined time following the vacancy of a seat arising. It is evident that this will happen again following the next European Parliament elections. This was predicted before the last such elections and ultimately, a code of conduct is required to ensure that unless exceptional circumstances have arisen, no more than three to five months should be elapse before filling a seat.

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