Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this Bill and it is time we caught up with European electoral laws on bankruptcy. The Bill amends the European Parliament Elections Act 1997 to allow a person who has been declared bankrupt to run for the European Parliament. The Government has already changed bankruptcy law to ensure it does not stigmatise individuals as it did in the past. Small businesses might fail the first time but may be successful the next time. That is not to say that the bankruptcy law should be taken advantage of by people.

As the Minister said, no amendment to the electoral laws for the Seanad is required because what pertains to the Dáil pertains to the Seanad. There was the anomaly that one could be declared bankrupt in another jurisdiction but run for election in Ireland. This Bill will deal with this anomaly by removing the disqualification of undischarged bankrupts. European, local and by-elections will be coming up soon, so this legislation is necessary. The Minister also pointed out what the Government has done for the accountability and transparency of funding of political parties accountability.

The provision on bankrupts goes back to the 1832 Reform Act which substantially extended the franchise. It was not until 1867 that many categories of working people were given the vote. The Representation of the People Act 1918 extended voting rights to women in a limited way. The Minister has introduced 30% female quotas to encourage more women to run for election. He has been advocating change and advancement throughout the electoral system. Disqualification due to bankruptcy was removed for local authority candidates in 1974. Hopefully, we will see this legislation enacted shortly.