Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt but that our sovereignty and democracy were hard won. People feel very passionate about that democracy. Since democracy is underpinned by an electoral process, individuals have a sense of ownership of it. All the questions and cautions posed by the Minister during the course of his address are a given. The ordinary citizen would pose the same questions and cautions. Those questions have been around for a long time. There is no doubt but that any reasonable person would not want to do anything precipitous that would in some way undermine the very democracy we are trying to save and, at the same time, protect.

Management of our electoral process is dispersed across a number of bodies, including the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, 31 local authorities and many agencies, including the commission of registration and the Constituency Commission. We have not become aware of this only in the past 12 months. It has been clear for many years that this is archaic and results in flaws in the electoral system. There is a barometer for checking how people feel about how things as they currently stand. Establishment of an electoral commission which will have overall responsibility for the management of the electoral process must form an integral part of overall reform of the political system. While that has become the mantra for many years, there are few people who are prepared to put their heads above the parapet and do something radical, if needed, and definite about reform.

It was interesting that the first target in terms of political reform, which amazed many people, was Seanad Éireann. People embraced the debate on abolition of the Seanad and realised that this was not the type of reform that was needed. While reform of the Seanad is required, the idea that any part of our democratic system would be abolished did not sit well with the people. That is why the Seanad remains. Balanced against that was the proposed reform of Dáil Éireann, which, it is clear, did not happen. While the number of Deputies has been reduced and the Dáil now sits every second Friday morning, that is the extent of Dáil reform. In fairness, we have not yet got around to the concept of a root and branch reform of our political system. This is one of the reasons that development of the electoral commission is way behind.

The question that must be posed is whether we are sure that the current electoral list is 100% accurate. That is an important question because that is the essence of the prop we have for democracy. It is clear that list is not 100%, which then raises the question of why that is the case. I am not trying to match the questions posed by the Minister; I am just saying there are questions that need to be posed. I recall a by-election in Dublin in respect of which turnout was 23%, which is pretty small. Turnout for referenda is not at the level we would like. In this regard, the question that must be posed is whether people are in some way questioning or losing confidence in the system. I believe that is more the perception than the reality. However, if that is the perception, then we face a serious challenge. We must work quickly to try to allay peoples' doubts or fears.

My next comment has nothing to do with any type of political development in recent years. Based on recent debates and polls, there is no doubt but that there is a sea change taking place in politics. The question that arises in this regard is whether this leads to stability or whether we should be using a franchise in a manner that gives us the best result. I am not always sure that public confidence at any given time is a reaction to a Government policy. I believe that is a perception. For this reason I believe the electoral commission is an important element of reform that should form part of general reform. This is one of those issues on which I think we should try to achieve unanimity within the Oireachtas.This is not an area for point scoring. It is too important. We would only add to the uncertainty in the electorate. It is looking to us to work as a team to mend whatever is broken. There will not be votes in either direction on this issue but I believe it is urgent.

The Minister’s questions, which he got from consultation, are the correct ones, but we hear those questions all the time. We need the answers. I am not saying we should do this before the next election although I wish we would but whenever we do it there must be a sense of urgency about the electoral commission. It must have integrity and resources. Reform must be revisited in a proactive way. The reform to date, and I am not referring to any Government, is not the reform people expect. If they expect something we should engage with them on that.