Michael McCarthy (Labour)

——not least in some I mentioned in my previous contribution. Perhaps it is time it led the way in this area.

This House debated at length the merits and demerits of the abolition of the dual mandate. We were lectured by the Minister, Deputy Cullen, on a division of responsibility between Members of the Oireachtas and members of local authorities. The majority of people bit that bullet, regardless of how hard it was. The tenor of the Minister's argument on the dual mandate, an argument that he carried successfully in the face of huge opposition from across the political spectrum, was the separation of powers, the identification of two clear roles and the removal of one set of duties from the public representative. Hence, the abolition of the dual mandate.

Most Members have contested elections and have had to deal with the reams of paper from the Standards in Public Office Commission. This is another commission which works hard and does a good but tedious job. It went through between 40,000 and 50,000 pieces of literature following the last Dáil and Seanad elections. All Members, or at least 99.9% of them, furnished declarations within the prescribed time limit. It was tedious and laborious for the members of the commission and its secretariat to go through this information. However, the accountability and transparency of the system is commendable. It is a good feature of our democracy and could be used as a guide with regard to this amendment. The inbuilt accountability and transparency of that system should be extended to this Bill, particularly given its recent history.

We learn from our mistakes and some of the handling of this issue was mistaken. It takes a good person, not to mind a public figure, to admit he or she made a mistake. Ways can be mended in this context. There is sufficient will in that we sing from the same hymn sheet, particularly when one considers the contributions of Senators Hayes and Dardis about outside bodies handling various facets of the system. There is, also, a broad consensus in the House on electronic voting. However, the key issue in this case is the fact that the Minister is director of elections. I appeal to the Minister of State, Deputy Gallagher, to accept the amendment.