Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Beimid ag tacú leis an mBille seo. An independent electoral commission is incredibly important. It is important that it is properly resourced and that its membership is reflective of a diverse population from all backgrounds. I hope the Government will take on board the recommendations from pre-legislative scrutiny and mandate that the electoral commission ensures those voices are heard. Either the commission itself or a subcommittee should hear the voices of the various minority groups in our society. It is also vitally important that young people are involved in the electoral process. I welcome that this Bill allows for pre-registration onto the electoral register for 16 and 17 year-olds but it is disappointing that yet again the Government did not see fit to use this Bill as an opportunity finally to lower the voting age in the State. The Taoiseach said on a number of occasions that he supports it and many Government Members have said they support it but we do not see any movement on it. Votes at 16 is the change that young people deserve. It is supported by youth organisations across Ireland and it is only by lowering the voting age that we can guarantee that the rights of young people stay firmly on the political agenda. Young people will live with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and with the climate crisis and it is only right that we can give them the opportunity to participate fully in the political process. I urge them to act quickly so their voices can be heard in time for the local and European elections.

I welcome the commitment from the Government that a referendum on extending presidential voting rights to those outside the State will take place before 2024 but we need to see a definitive timeline for this because it has been talked about for some time. Citizens outside the State, including our neighbours in the North, should not be left behind when it comes to electing our President and the Government must hold a referendum on this as soon as possible.

Some of the most far-reaching electoral reforms are some of the most basic ones. It is too difficult to register to vote. The window is open too infrequently and there are unnecessary obstacles that people can find intimidating, including presenting to a Garda station for a stamp for the supplementary register and so on. We need to transform radically how we deal with that issue and Deputy Phelan has already raised the issues around multiple registrations and the difficulty in transferring. It should be much more dynamic and it should be relatively easy for the vote to follow the person who is voting, which is essential. That would make a huge difference.

On electoral reform and governmental reform more generally, I will raise an issue I have raised previously, namely devolving more powers to local government. We have an incredibly centralised system and there are many functions that local authorities could do far better than can be done at a central Government level. Even within the local government system a lot more could be done by councillors rather than being done by the executive. I was sceptical of the municipal district model but it is a good model. There should be scope to look at a similar model within city councils so that local areas could have a budget they could spend themselves and have certain powers in that regard. That needs to be considered.

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