Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)

I will stick with what SIPO tells us. I will go back to 2019 and to the submission to public consultation on the regulatory impact analysis. It states that SIPO's "mandate includes oversight of the electoral Act". It then goes on to outline some of the challenges for SIPO in this role and the lack of independence of SIPO in terms of budgets, staffing and reporting to the Oireachtas. It states that SIPO does not have its own Vote, unlike in other jurisdictions and that a dedicated Vote would allow it more independence, which is vital, and autonomy. It outlines the "burdensome framework for reporting" and that seven statutory reports are required under the electoral Act alone.

Four of the six members of the SIPO Commission are ex officio with other commitments, which limits the time they have to focus on SIPO. SIPO's secretarial staff also have responsibility for other operations within SIPO's remit. There is a need for a definition of "political purposes" and "third parties". On expenditure limits, there are no limits on expenditure for Seanad elections or referenda, unlike other elections. There are inconsistent disclosure requirements for political parties and so on. It has little power by way of investigation. Local elections are treated differently. That is only a small sample of the inadequacies of the existing legislation. It is the opposite to what democracy needs.

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