Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

The purpose of the Bill before the House today is to provide that the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil will perform the functions of the Clerk of the Dáil under the electoral Acts whenever the post of Clerk of the Dáil is vacant or the Clerk is not available through illness, absence or other cause. The Bill provides likewise in respect of the office of Clerk of the Seanad.

The electoral Acts provide in many sections that where the office of Clerk of the Dáil is vacant, the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil shall perform the duties of the Clerk of the Dáil. For example, section 39 of the Electoral Act 1992, which deals with the issue and return of writs at Dáil elections, provides that the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil shall carry out the duties of the Clerk of the Dáil if the office of Clerk of the Dáil is vacant or the Clerk is unable to fulfil the duties through illness, absence or other cause. Another example is in Rule 101 of the Second Schedule to the European Parliament Elections Act 1997. That Rule provides that the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil shall perform the functions of the Clerk of the Dáil in respect of the filling of casual vacancies in the European Parliament whenever the office of Clerk of the Dáil is vacant or the Clerk is unable to fulfil the relevant duties through illness, absence or other cause. The electoral Acts are not, however, consistent in making such provision and this short technical Bill addresses this anomaly in the electoral Acts.

The anomaly came to notice when consideration was being given to the making of the by-election order to fill the vacancy in the Seanad arising from the election of Senator Deirdre Clune to the European Parliament in May. The vacancy has arisen in the Oireachtas Sub-Panel of the Cultural and Educational Panel. The legislative provisions on filling the vacancy are set out in Part 5 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947. The Act requires the Clerk of the Dáil to perform specific functions in the by-election process. These include sending to the Seanad returning officer a "statement of the names, addresses and descriptions of all the members of the Dáil who are then entitled to sit and vote in that House". On receipt of that statement, the Seanad returning officer prepares a list which forms part of the electoral roll for the by-election.

As the office of Clerk of the Dáil is vacant and as there is no provision in the 1947 Act for a person other than the Clerk of the Dáil to furnish the necessary statement to the Seanad returning officer in respect of the electoral role, the by-election could not proceed in accordance with the Act. This anomaly came to light when I received notice last month under section 55 of the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act 1947 of the casual vacancy in the Seanad arising from Senator Clune's election to the European Parliament. This is an unsatisfactory and anomalous situation which is addressed in the Bill before the House today.

Rather than just dealing with the immediate difficulty of the Seanad by-election, the Government decided to examine the issue more widely. Therefore, the Bill addresses the entire electoral code where similar difficulties could arise in the future, in respect of both the Clerk of the Dáil and the Clerk of the Seanad. The Bill provides that in certain circumstances, the Clerk Assistant of the Dáil will perform the functions of the Clerk of the Dáil and the Clerk Assistant of the Seanad will perform the functions of the Clerk of the Seanad. Those circumstances arise where either the office of Clerk of the Dáil or the office of Clerk of the Seanad is vacant or the Clerk is unable through illness, absence or other cause to fulfil duties under the electoral Acts and no provision is made for another person to perform the relevant functions.

I will now outline the details of the Bill. Section 1(1) provides that if and so long as the office of Clerk of Dáil Éireann is vacant or the holder of that office is unable through illness, absence or other cause to perform his or her functions under the relevant statutory provisions, the Clerk Assistant of Dáil Éireann shall perform those functions. Section 1(2) lists the "relevant Acts" and "relevant statutory provisions" referred to in section 1(1). The functions are those functions in the electoral Acts which are the duty of the Clerk of the Dáil and where no provision is made for any other person to fulfil the duties in the absence of the Clerk. Section 2(1) of the Bill makes similar provisions for the Seanad. It provides that if and so long as the office of Clerk of Seanad Éireann is vacant or the holder of that office is unable through illness, absence or other cause to perform his or her functions under the relevant statutory provisions, the Clerk Assistant of Seanad Éireann shall perform those functions. Section 2(2) lists the "relevant Acts" and "relevant statutory provisions" referred to in section 2(1). The functions are those functions in the electoral Acts which are the duty of the Clerk of the Seanad and where no provision is made for any other person to fulfil the duties in the absence of the Clerk. Section 3 of the Bill contains standard provisions dealing with Short Title, construction and collective citations.

This is a short technical Bill. The goal is to ensure that Dáil and Seanad elections can proceed in accordance with the legislative provisions and requirements when there is a vacancy in the office of Clerk of the Dáil or Clerk of the Seanad or the Clerk is absent for one reason or another. The Bill takes a sensible and pragmatic approach to addressing the inconsistencies in the electoral Acts on this point, and I commend it to the House.

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