Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 34 is in this group. It is a variation of amendment No. 32, with a slight change as it mentions an annual basis and an accessible format. If the Minister of State will not accept my amendment, I urge him to accept the amendments tabled by the Labour Party. They are both very reasonable and based on the same principle. The register of political parties should not have arcane knowledge for reference, for officials or for those who know how to exercise freedom of information requests. It should be a matter of public information. This is the public's decision-making process. It is about electoral processes. It should be public. Moreover, it should be accessible on the website.

With regard to the point made on a party’s constitution and memorandum of understanding, the Minister of State’s response will be a sign as to whether there is any willingness to engage. The amendment is so obviously clear and it is a good idea that the information would be made available. This is important for a number of reasons. It is important so that if a candidate from a party is presenting as a single issue candidate the public can look to the party’s constitution and see what its wider perspective might be. This is very important. We have been speaking about disinformation. We need to speak about information being clear and available.

On the other side, it is also very important because if people see the constitution and rules of a party and how it works, they might see themselves being involved in politics. They would be able to see some of the democracy in parties. They could imagine, for example, what they might be able to do or how they might be able to influence the party for change. This is also very important.

The electoral commission has a function in information and education, and later I will discuss amendments in this regard. There is a function for the electoral commission in civics, social and political education in our schools. Every classroom in Ireland should be able to look at the register of political parties, practise reading the rules and constitutions of the parties and gain an understanding of the decisions people might be making.

Amendment No. 33 is incredibly sensible. I urge the Minister of State to support it and to support either amendment No. 32 tabled by the Labour Party or my amendment No. 34 to ensure the register of political parties is published and made available to the public.