Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Brennan. He has touched on valid points about voter participation and the electoral registers, which affect democracy and are the responsibility of an electoral commission. It is good to have this discussion. Between elections is the best time to reflect on the institutions of the State and how elections are run, whether by Departments or whether they can be depoliticised. I believe in depoliticising the running of elections by establishing an independent electoral commission that is beyond reproach, such as that proposed in the 2008 UCD report, to which the Minister referred.

There is a crisis in democracy in the Western world. Research by eminent political scientists shows that political party membership is falling. The greatest political machine in the Western world in 1952 was the British Conservative Party, with over 3 million members. Next May, it will go into an election with fewer than 200,000 members. Politics is transforming, evolving, emerging and developing. The media has a role in that too. Some argue it is a positive role, others say not so, depending on which political scientist one follows. Irrespective of that, we live in changing times and democracy needs to change. We need an independent commission to consider all the facets touched on today and the valid questions posed by the Minister.

The commission should be established quickly but not as a knee-jerk reaction. It should be done over time and if that means not all functions will be transferred at once, so be it. Responsibility for election turnout, voter participation and electoral registers is fundamental to a commission. Election turnout is falling. According to Peter Myer’s research, the membership of political parties here fell by 45% between 1980 and 2010.The fall in voter turnout has not been as stark but, nonetheless, participation levels in political parties as a percentage of the overall population is in the region of 1.5%. That is much lower than in some of our European counterparts. In the isolation of Leinster House, we may think that participation in political parties is higher here than in other jurisdictions, but that is not so according to current research.

The electoral register is in a complete mess but that did not happen overnight; it evolved over many years. At the last general election and even in the most recent local elections, in my own parish I could cite 50 examples of people whose names were on the register twice, in Irish and English. Others who were on the register up to the general election of 2011 and had voted in at least seven elections, were removed from the register through no fault of their own. It is nobody's fault, but that is the way the system operates. There is a major difficulty with the electoral register. We cannot have a definitive voter turnout figure while the electoral register is in such a mess. It is therefore very difficult to analyse voter turnout or extrapolate the outcome of election results given the mess the register is in. A number of years ago, an Oireachtas joint committee made some good proposals for transforming the electoral register, which included linking PPS numbers to avoid having individuals on the register who had left the country. We should re-examine that proposal.

Some people from other jurisdictions may spend one weekend a year in the Republic, yet they find themselves on the electoral register and are allowed to vote. It is not right that such people can determine who are the elected representatives. That is not democracy. The electoral commission will have many specific and definitive roles to play, so primary legislation will be required in that regard. We can debate all the relevant issues when that legislation comes before us. I think the Minister of State is going in the right direction and I am glad to have had an opportunity to contribute to this debate.