Batt O'Keeffe (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Senators for their contribution to the debate. The comments, as usual, focused on the Bill and went across the electoral agenda. That is not unusual, I suppose. In the time available I wish to comment on some of the points raised.

Regulating access to the electoral process is a common feature in most parliamentary democracies and is widely seen as necessary to discourage an overly large number from contesting an election. The proposals in the Bill strike the right balance between providing for a reasonable test of the bona fides of a prospective candidate and not setting the test so high as to restrict people unduly from seeking election.

Candidates standing for Dáil election who are not in possession of a certificate of political affiliation will now be able to choose which option best suits their circumstances. This can be an assent requiring the completion of a statutory declaration by 30 assentors in the constituency, which may be witnessed by a commissioner of oaths, a peace commissioner, a notary, a garda or local authority official. A deposit of €500 can otherwise be lodged with the returning officer before the deadline for receiving nominations. This represents a significant improvement on the previous arrangement and I am satisfied it fully meets the relevant constitutional requirements.

In response to Senator Bannon and in commenting on the backhanded compliment given by Senator Quinn, the previous system was enacted in 2002 on the basis of the best legal advice available to the Government at the time. It is significant to remember that 15 Independents were elected to the current Dáil. Irrespective of how difficult it was, these people were able to come through the system.

It is always possible to challenge legislation, and this frequently happens in the electoral area. It is timely to remember that the State won on approximately seven issues in this case before the Supreme Court but lost on one item, which the Bill addresses.

Senator Bannon commented on European and local elections. Although the terms of the Supreme Court judgment relate to Dáil elections only, I fully agree it will be necessary to introduce similar arrangements for local and European elections. In considering the response to the Supreme Court decision, the feasibility of legislating for all three electoral codes in this one Bill was taken into account. It was concluded that the priority must be to ensure that proposals for amendments to the Dáil code are developed, considered, enacted and implemented in advance of the general election.

As Senators are aware, there is only limited time available to do this. The development of the new provisions in respect of the local and European electoral codes would have taken some additional time, which would have limited the opportunity for the Houses to consider the important issues involved.

The matter is not really as simple as it might appear. The necessary additional legislation will span a number of provisions across two electoral codes, requiring careful consideration and detailed drafting. It was therefore decided that the focus should be on preparing proposals to facilitate non-party candidates standing in the forthcoming general election and to maximise the time available to consider these.

When the new arrangements are enacted, the way will be open to begin work on developing revised procedures along similar lines for local and European Parliament elections, for implementation by way of a further electoral Bill. This will be done well before the next elections in June 2009.

On the question of the deposit amount, and to reiterate the statements of Senators on the Government side of the House, €500 is a reasonable sum. It is certainly significantly less than the £300 enacted in 1982 as updated by reference to inflation, and it has clear legal and judicial support based on the case law now available to us.

I remind the House that at the foundation of the State, the deposit amount was fixed at £100. Over the next 70 years this amount remained unaltered despite the great changes in money values. By the time law in this area was revised in 1992, the original £100 set down in 1923 was worth €3,800. The Oireachtas set the deposit at a tenth of this amount, £300 or €380. If the 1992 figure of €380 is updated to 2007, taking inflation into account, the figure is €570. Whichever way it is considered, €500 is not excessive.

I thank Senators for their contributions and look forward to further debate on these important issues on Committee Stage.