Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)

I congratulate President Catherine Connolly on her remarkable success and wish her well as Uachtarán na hÉireann. However, there has been a crisis of democracy - a huge democratic deficit in democracy - in this election. Three hundred and seventeen thousand people either spoiled their votes or voted for a withdrawn candidate. In some constituencies, the proportion of spoiled votes was north of 20%. Many boxes across the country showed that the number of spoiled votes was actually higher than the number of votes received by the candidate who came second. This was not an accident, nor was it the result of apathy. This was frustration. These people went to their ballot papers to voice their frustration over the huge deficit reflected there. The Tánaiste himself dictated to his councillors so as to prevent independent voices and members of smaller parties from gaining access to the nomination paper. The number of spoiled ballot papers in 2025 was almost as high as the combined vote for the Social Democrats, the Labour Party and the Green Party. That is the level we are talking about. It points to the biggest democratic deficit in the history of the State. In fact, the biggest democratic deficit in the history of European elections was registered here last month, yet nothing has been done about it.

Aontú has already introduced a Bill seeking to reduce the threshold. What have we and the Government learned from what has happened? What is the Government going to do to reduce the threshold to ensure rich and vibrant democracy in future presidential elections?

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