Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I acknowledge the fact that Fine Gael supports the Bill. We thank the Minister of State for bringing it before the House and the officials who assisted in drafting it. It is welcome that we now have election spending limits on local election candidates. As I said on Second Stage and on a number of occasions, I admire any candidate who puts their name forward for election, whether it be a local, national or European election, to represent the community from which they come. This Bill will provide a level playing pitch for anybody who wants to enter politics. Previously, candidates might have been intimidated by high expenditure from well-established or better-off candidates and might have felt they could not compete if they entered the political field. This Bill will go a long way towards addressing that.

I raised concerns in the debates regarding the expenditure limits for urban candidates versus rural candidates and asked the Minister of State to keep an open mind on this legislation and review how it affected candidates and our electoral system after the local elections which are ten weeks away. This is a Bill that will serve our democracy well. Candidates will welcome it. It is important that the Bill would be signed into law by an tÚachtarán and that the guidelines for local authorities regarding the effect of this legislation on local elections and candidates would forwarded as soon as possible because we are only ten weeks away from the local elections. Candidates will have a great deal on their minds. They will be trying to deal with issues daily and it is a difficult climate currently with the economy in its current state. The last thing they want to do is fall foul of legislation because they do not realise its full implications. Will the Minister of State ask his Department officials to engage fully with local authority officials? I ask local authorities also that they would designate a member of staff to deal with any queries from candidates because the last thing they need is to be passed from person to person in local authorities with no one knowing the guidelines or who is responsible for them.

I thank the Minister and his officials for bringing the Bill before the House. It is a step forward in our electoral process. It will help local government in general and democracy in particular.