Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

“That Seanad Éireann notes the Consultation Paper on the Establishment of an Electoral Commission in Ireland published by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in January, 2015.”

I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, to the House. The electoral commission has been spoken about, thought about and dreamt about for a long time. When researching the matter I noted there were rumblings about it as far back as 2000. The Minister was very proactive on the issue and last month he published a consultation paper on the establishment of an electoral commission. He has taken the first steps towards setting up an electoral commission. I presume that what emerges from the consultation will be the first step in the preparation of legislation on an electoral commission Bill. The consultation paper has been forwarded by the Minister to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, on which I sit. As each party has only two Seanad Members on the committee I thought it would be a good idea to have a discussion on this important issue which will involve widespread change to how the electoral process is carried out. The House is noted for its contribution to good debate and consultation. It would be a good forum to play out the issues and to offer ideas. Not all Members sit on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht. The committees play an important role. A recommendation will come from the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht on the consultation paper but my reason for tabling the motion is to provide an initial opportunity to discuss the paper in this House.

The Government is living up to its commitment in the programme for Government in this regard. The previous Government produced a document in 2008. Academics and other experts have done some work on the issue and have recommended that we look to establish an electoral commission, as exists in most countries in Europe. Could the Minister indicate the closing date for consultation? All-party consensus was reached previously and I believe we can achieve that again given that such a commission would be a significant undertaking and gives rise to a range of policy and organisational issues. On reading the consultation paper published by the Minister, I note it will look at international best practice, the commission's structure and functions, its relationship with other bodies, and the approach to be followed. Extensive legislation will be required in order to bring about the changes. Does the Minister have any dates in that regard? It will not alone affect politicians, as the administration of the new system will affect everybody who has a vote in this country. I very much welcome the public consultation.

It is a huge undertaking and it will not be easy. I accept it might be difficult for the Minister to give exact timescales and dates as progress will depend on A, B, C and D. Everybody has good intentions and we all agree that this should be done and must be done. However, that was the case with the previous Government. Does the Minister have a dedicated team to oversee the process? If he does not, he should have such a team to deliver it over a certain period. It might not be done in a year or a number of years but the Minister should set a date for the establishment of the commission. Achieving consensus is also very important.

The establishment of an electoral commission was reaffirmed by the Constitutional Convention and in April 2014 the Taoiseach confirmed in the Dáil the Government's acceptance of the recommendation. The Statement of Government Priorities 2014-2016 agreed that this would be done, but what was not agreed is a range of opinion on the precise functions to be assigned to an electoral commission and the roles that should continue to be performed by those who currently have responsibilities in this area. No decisions have been taken on what should be included or excluded and for what reason. Currently, a number of different bodies and office holders perform certain duties. Costs are also involved. It will be necessary to assign a dedicated budget to the commission. When I was a councillor and was trying to get money from A to B, it was common to look at the cost of producing the electoral register to see if a few bob could be shaved off from that area to put somewhere else or vice versa, one might think it needed more money because the electoral register was not performing up to scratch. When we discussed it at the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, we considered whether the cost of carrying out the work and producing the register was reflected in the budget. Very often, a lot of subsidiary work was done by local authorities that was not included in the budget. We must examine best practice worldwide to ensure economies of scale are achieved. There is no point in just changing the system for the sake of change. The job must be done better and must be effective and cost efficient. It is considered that New Zealand has a good system in place.

I compliment the Minister on the consultation paper. To provide a focus to public and political debate, the consultation paper sets out a series of 11 questions and provides a lot of information. I would recommend that people who have not read it should do so as it is a very worthwhile paper.It provides a series of 11 questions and information on them.

Ireland is in a minority of countries that does not have an independent electoral management body. The consultation paper notes that two thirds of jurisdictions now have a system that is institutionally independent of Government. That is important as it must be independent. That is what this is all about, namely, to take it out of the realms of politics, local authorities, Government and councillors.

Should the responsibility for general election boundaries be run by an independent electoral commission or, as it is, the independent body? Who should be responsible for voter registration? Should an electoral commission have an oversight role in respect of the responsibilities of local authorities in dealing with local election spending and donations with the Standards in Public Office Commission being amalgamated into it? It is important to update the electoral register. We all have our own stories to tell about that. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are bad and other times people turn up to vote and say they do not have a polling card but that they had one last year. Key problems have been identified and that one is one of the main ones that has come up. Other problems identified relate to registration, the use of ballot papers, voting and the type of ballot paper. There was an update with respect to photographs on ballot papers to ensure identity and realism in terms of voting to guard against fraudulent voting, and it has helped in that respect. However, the commission could examine other ways and means of ensuring that the register reflects the people living in an area in the year in question.

The UCD Geary Institute was asked by the previous Government to examine this issue and one of its recommendations in its preliminary study on the establishment of an electoral commission was that personal public service, PPS, numbers should be used for identification. I know the trouble we got into previously with the use of PPS numbers but this is a methodology that is used in other countries, especially for identification purposes with regard to the electoral register. I will not ask the Minister to answer in respect of that recommendation but it is one we could consider and on which we could have consultation. It is one that I would consider and it should be seriously examined because there is no better way to identify somebody if we want to curb fraudulent voting, but there may be obstacles to that as well. The Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government of the 30th Dáil held hearings on this. We have had hearings and consultations on this. Senator Mac Conghail has tabled an amendment to this motion to the effect that the commission would be established by the end of December 2015. I have no objection to that if it could be realistically achieved, but I have outlined all that will have to happen before it can be established and, therefore, I do not know if we can accept that amendment.

The electoral commission should be tasked to examine and advise on policy issues in electoral administration, including how to increase political engagement. That is important because we have seen our political engagement slide. The commission could be tasked with educating voters as we do not have such a policy and such education is left to the schools. There should be a body in place that would educate voters ranging from the young to the middle-aged. Everybody needs it. Such a body is needed to examine the issue of education, how to increase ease of access to voting, how to improve the system and to examine the issue of how surplus votes are counted. Personally, I might be satisfied with how surplus votes are counted. That issue always arises and it is open for discussion but it should be explained to the general populace. The issue of how surplus votes are counted always arises at an election count.. There is a question and there is the matter of whether that should be examined.

There is also the matter of maintaining the register of political parties. A further issue is broadcasting coverage during an election campaign, particularly during referendum campaigns. For example, with regard to the upcoming referendum, one person or two people may have come out against it and the issue of balance arises if the broadcasting authority has to allow 50% coverage to that side every time the referendum is given coverage.