Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to be back in the Seanad today. As my colleagues are aware, I was in this House last December when we had a good discussion on the Government's plans to establish an electoral commission. I said then, and I will say it again now: for me personally, and I say this genuinely and not passively, I would love to have dealt with this issue at the beginning of a longer term in this role. I would love to have five years in this job. This is an issue which is a huge priority and something to which I am personally committed because I believe it is necessary and has to be done. I feel very passionate about it.

In December I told the Members of this House that I was working on a detailed policy paper and would bring it to Government. I said that I planned to publish the paper for consultation. I did this the following month. I committed to that and I did it. It is quite a comprehensive document. It is a very good document. It asks an awful lot of questions which need a lot of detailed answers. This afternoon is the first occasion that Members of either House of the Oireachtas have had to examine publicly and in detail the contents of that document. I thank them for raising this matter today.

In addition to our discussions today there will, of course, be other opportunities for Senators to contribute their views. The consultation paper has been referred to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht, which includes many Members of this House. The committee has been asked to undertake a focused and time-bound consultation process. I will meet the committee next week and I look forward to that meeting.This is a thorough process. There are views on many of the issues we will discuss as part of this and it is not the case that the answers are wrong or right. Rather, it is about how we get to the best possible solutions and processes for the future. I thank the Chair of the committee who has taken a major interest in it.

I am glad to set out my intentions and those of the Government in progressing the task of setting up an electoral commission. It is important for me to hear the views of Senators, as legislators, because there are few issues more important to the running of our democracy than how elections are managed and run. There is general agreement between the Government side and most Senators on the need for an electoral commission in Ireland.