Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is not very clear to me why the Minister of State, if he agrees with the principle that information should be shared in these various formats we have outlined and expects that to happen, will not accept the amendments. The Bill has been amended by the Government and, therefore, it is going back to the Dáil. It is not clear to me why the amendments are not being accepted.

I am thinking in particular of amendment No. 31 because the legislation stating "as far as practicable" is a problem. That is not sufficient with respect to the UNCRPD. The fact the commission may exceed that and may indeed ensure everybody has access to the information in all the different ways is by the by. The fact is the Government is bound by the UNCRPD and its legislation, including this legislation, should reflect the convention. It is not simply enough for the Minister of State to pass the buck and say he is sure a future electoral commission will consider it. The fact is he has something in this legislation that simply says that kind of access should be as far as practicable rather than that kind of access to information being a right. Again, after we ratified the UNCRPD, the Government should not have legislation that equivocates about full participation and full access to information. It should not be in the legislation.

I am probably not going to press these now because I urge the Minister of State to think between today and tomorrow, review this, look back and ask why exactly these amendments are not being accepted. I do not see any good reason they would not be accepted and see a number of problems with the fact they are not being accepted. I will bring these back on Report Stage and will press them at that point.