Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am at a disadvantage to other Members here because I did not deal with this Bill, which my colleague did, and I am not a member of the committee. I was asked to look at these matters because my colleague has Covid. I am deeply concerned. I know the Ceann Comhairle is an advocate for the proper working of these Houses. The previous Dáil, perversely, because it was a minority Government, ensured there was no guillotining of Bills because the Government did not have a majority to do it. Everything was scrutinised and everything was the better for it. It was frustrating for Ministers occasionally, I have no doubt, and I have been on that side of the House too. However, the notion that fundamental law is created without proper scrutiny is a disaster.

I echo Deputy Ó Broin’s suggestion that the new amendments that had not been looked at in the Seanad should be withdrawn now. We can pass the Bill with any amendments that are needed that are of a technical nature and then come back in the next session with a short amending Bill, with proper time for pre-legislative scrutiny and with proper committee debate and input from the experts in regard to it.

I go back to the point I made. There are aspects of this Bill where, if we enact it, it will not be what the Government intends it to be. My colleague wrote a letter to the Minister of State on 6 July in regard to this Bill and the Minister of State has not replied yet. In that letter, he legally sets out the Minister of State's stated intent and why that is not the actual wording of the Bill, and where the Minister of State briefed a journalist to say that is the intent of it, but that is not the actual impact of it. It is clear that we need a better go at this than is being afforded in this Bill.

I am very conscious that this is fundamental to the working of our democracy. It is our electoral system. We have been talking about an electoral commission for a generation, in truth, and it is very good that the Minister of State has got to this point and has built such a political consensus on it. I commend the Minister of State and his officials on that. However, he should not upset that consensus now for the sake of giving us the additional time. We need to have the commission established and we can do all of that by passing this Bill now, but I ask the Minister of State to withdraw the amendments that are contentious and bring them back in a short amending Bill in the new session. In that way, we can all be content that the electoral law, upon which our very democracy is based, is secure and we can buy in on a cross-party basis, which I know and believe is the Minister of State's objective.

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