Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I represented those areas before. I will probably be the only person on the ballot paper who represented both sides of the county previously, because as an MEP I represented them all. It is a source of huge regret that an area beside me, Borrisokane, Ardcroney, a part of the county has gone to Offaly. If elected, I would still represent them because I feel duty bound. That whole issue probably needs us to think outside the box. I recall the last time I had to canvass an area of Offaly in the Tipperary constituency. To be honest, the people there did not want to be in Tipperary and I can understand that. We need to look at all of those issues.

I will not get into the issue of the counting of surplus vote transfers but we all know what we are talking about. The examination and design of ballot papers was diligently discussed. There is also the whole issue of running a party in relation to winning elections, political standards and how we are going to ensure all of this can be rigorously brought into a commission which can function and have the powers and ensure nothing is outstanding or left in other areas and that it can all work as one. I agree with Senator Keane that it is not just a case of extending SIPO. There might be a process whereby the legislation across the board, and particularly that regarding SIPO, can be helpful but it is not just that.

It may be helpful in certain areas but it is not the commission we will use.

I have spoken previously about international experience. If one looks at certain countries in Europe, one will see that they have achieved a lot of change, particularly our neighbours across the sea. Significant change has happened there from which we can learn.

I was asked specifically to talk about where we go from here. I am the type of person who prefers to address a question directly rather than beating around the bush and reading a ten-minute speech to the House. Perhaps enough did not happen in the past. I am not going to criticise but that is a possibility. We have been edging this along and it is my intention to ensure that this issue is dealt with during my tenure, assuming the Government remains in office. I am very passionate about this and hope I am showing that by my reflection on the issue. It is not something that I treat as tokenism. This is critically important and is fundamental to everything we do in this State. This is the engine oil that ensures probity and that the electoral system is working. It is the engine behind democracy. We need to ensure that it is 100% solid.

In edging forward over recent months, we have put together a consultation paper on the issues involved. I have a copy of that paper here and will be presenting it to Government in January. Once that is agreed by Government, I will send it to the Joint Committee on Environment, Community and Local Government to be discussed over a number of weeks or months. I will define the timescale for those discussions because I do not think they should go on forever. I will be open to the views of the committee on the paper but I do not want to set the timescale until the committee has seen it. Once that is done, it will come back to the Department and we will work to consolidate it, based on the views of the committee. Following that, it is my intention to develop the heads of a Bill by the middle of next year. Then, as the Tánaiste has said, by late 2015 or at the very latest early 2016, we will bring the legislation forward and move it through the Houses. Had I started in this job in 2011, this may have been done earlier. However, there was a lot going on and there still is. I am giving this House a commitment that this is the way I want this to go and I am prioritising it on that basis. It is something on which I feel I need to deliver. I am making a commitment in this House today that I will put it to the Government in January, send it on to the joint committee and then, on the basis of the committee's response, which I cannot prejudge, I will publish the heads of the Bill. They will be open for scrutiny and discussion, perhaps in this House. Subsequent to that, we will bring the legislation forward.

I am quite open on this issue. I do not think there is any monopoly on knowledge on the issue. In fact, there are different arguments around it but there is no monopoly on knowledge. I would say to members of the Opposition that their contributions on this are as valid as anyone else's in the sense that this legislation is for us all. It should be politically independent, so to speak. I was very taken by Senator Mooney's contribution. It was very fair and balanced and he adopted the right tone and attitude with regard to what we need to do here. We need to ensure that it is rigorous and is done properly to achieve the best result. At the end of the day, how we run our elections is the engine behind our democracy. Indeed, it ensures that we have a real democracy and that must be protected at all costs.

I apologise for the fact that I have to leave the House now but there is a little Bill going through the other House for which I am responsible and which will be discussed in this House tomorrow.