John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

By way of background, Part 6 of the Local Government Act 2019 provides for the holding of plebiscites on the direct election of mayors in Cork city, Limerick city and county and Waterford city and county. Section 41 of that Act provides that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government may make regulations for the purposes of holding a plebiscite.The draft regulations were laid before both Houses on 1 April. It is intended that the plebiscites will take place on the same day as the local and European elections. The draft regulations before the House provide for procedural and administrative matters on the conduct of the plebiscites. They apply many provisions of the Local Election Regulations 1995. They also provide that a plebiscite returning officer is responsible for giving public notice, the holding of the plebiscite, the distribution of information, the printing of ballot papers and making arrangements for postal and special voters. The draft regulations set out who can attend the counting of votes, who can handle the ballot papers, and the arrangements for opening, extracting and counting the ballot papers. On completion of the count, the draft regulations set out the procedures that must be followed by the plebiscite returning officer, including the retention and disposal of documents and the preparation for signature of the plebiscite certificate. Electoral offences set out in the draft regulations apply many of the provisions regarding electoral offences contained in the Local Election Regulations 1995. These include matters such as breach of secrecy, offences relating to ballot boxes, ballot papers and official marks, and obstruction of the poll and interference with electors. These draft regulations provide for the procedural and administrative arrangements for the conduct of the plebiscites. They simply mirror provisions that are already there for the conduct of other polls and Members will be familiar with those arrangements.