Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)

The new provision in the Bill that a by-election must be held within six months is long overdue and as such, we welcome it. It will put a stop to the practice of Governments not holding by-elections for fear that they will lose a seat. It is nothing short of an affront to democracy to leave people unrepresented for months on end in that manner. We should not forget that this provision is the result of Deputy Pearse Doherty of Sinn Fein having to take a court challenge in order to for a by-election to be held. Pat the Cope Gallagher stood down in June 2009 in order to take a seat as an MEP. The then Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government left the seat vacant until the High Court ruled in November 2010 that there had been an unreasonable delay in holding the by-election. By-elections that should have been held in Dublin South, Waterford and Donegal North-East never took place, depriving voters in these constituencies of adequate representation, because of the cowardice of a Fianna Fáil and Green Party Government which was running scared of the people. It prevaricated when it came to holding the by-elections because it were sure it would lose the seats, as if it had a God-given right to hold on to them. That was one of the fundamental problems with that Government - it spent far too much time thinking it was entitled to do whatever it wanted because it had been in power for so long and to hell with the rest of us.

It is baffling, therefore, that, even as the Minister brings forward the proposal to impose a six-month deadline for the setting of a by-election date, which we fully support, the Government is still appealing the High Court decision on the holding of the by-election in Donegal South-West to the Supreme Court. The by-election was held nine months ago and we have had a general election since. It seems farcical and is a waste of taxpayers' resources that the Government is paying for an appeal to the Supreme Court in this matter. I am asking the Minister to take the opportunity to announce that it is withdrawing the appeal.

Why has the Minister chosen to introduce a six-month deadline? While we welcome the provision to hold by-elections within six months, why has the Government stipulated that it be six months? Why should an by-election not be held within four or five months? The general election was called in a matter of three to four weeks. We were all out on the hustings and 165 Deputies were elected. Is there a particular reason it takes so long to hold a by-election?

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