Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We take this legislation and the amendments very seriously. I served in the Seanad for five years and have great regard for it. I campaigned for its retention. Thankfully, it was retained. I believe in a bicameral system. The Seanad does important work. All Senators, be they from the university panels, elected from the other panels through local government or nominees of the Taoiseach, are Members of an important Chamber that I fully respect. I will get to the point on the register of electors in a moment. I reiterate that the Government fully accepts the decision of the Supreme Court. This is a legacy issue going back to 1979. I cannot speak for previous Governments that did not effectively vindicate the decision the citizens made in the referendum almost 45 years ago. Senators should be clear regarding the work we have to do with the Supreme Court in accepting its judgment. I want to make sure we not only respect and accept the Supreme Court judgment, but work towards putting it into effect. That will be complex and there is a timeframe.

As regards the register of electors, particularly in the context of amendment No. 11, the Senator may have missed me making the point that I acknowledge the register of electors is an extremely important element in the electoral code. It is vital. An election cannot be held without it. I support the inclusion of relevant provisions in the Bill as it progresses, however. The Senator may have missed that bit. I know that was a frustration she outlined in her response.

As regards the work we will have to do, there could potentially be 2 million electors. The Senator will know from her university that there have been issues in the past with how the register of electors has been managed within the universities. Amendment No. 11 provides: "The register of electors previously kept under this Act for the National University Constituency and the Dublin University Constituency shall be deposited with An Coimisiún Toghcháin and combined to form the single register of electors." I understand the principle of that but the Senator may agree that a significant amount of work will need to be done in that space to make sure that register is robust. I refer to even taking what is there now and depositing it with An Coimisiún Toghcháin. Knowing people who participate in Seanad elections as electors, she will be aware of the difficulties there have been in being able to vindicate the rights of people who already have the right to vote. The maintenance of the register and things like that are difficult and onerous tasks on the university. I am not ruling out that in future but we have to look at what the breadth of electors will be and how we make sure people register to that. If everyone who had and has a right to vote were to vote, it would be approximately 2 million people. It is a significant electorate. I am open to proposals as this progresses. The timing of it and the Supreme Court judgment will require the Government to bring forward more comprehensive legislation as well. The Bill does help.

I take Senator Boyhan's point on the potential exclusion of certain parties from standing as candidates. Following the work the Attorney General is doing and when I go back to the Cabinet in autumn with options, it will require a Government decision. Flowing from that decision will require primary or Government legislation on this matter and that can encompass previous Bills that were brought froward. I commend the Senators on bringing forward the Bill because we are having a good discussion on it. Other legislation was brought forward in the past. We will be looking at a composite consolidated Bill. That will be important because the judgment of the Supreme Court was clear. There is no question the Government has accepted that and wishes to move on it and implement that. There will be people with different views.

There is a wider Seanad reform agenda that has been discussed for many years but not implemented by successive Governments. Let us be clear that it is not in the current programme for Government. The Seanad does a very good job on the work it is asked and charged to do, particularly with regard to providing checks and balances on legislation. Obviously, the Supreme Court has pointed out issues relating to the electoral franchise and how far it should extend, particularly in the context of the university Senators. I assure the House that if the Bill or a Government Bill is to progress, we will have to address the issue of electoral registers.

An Coimisiún Toghcháin is important. It has only just been established. We made a commitment in the programme for Government to have a standing permanent electoral commission. That is clear on what its main role is and I outlined that in my response on the amendment. People are clear on it, so I will not repeat it. It is good that the commission is up and running and fully populated. Its staff and offices are in place. The first piece of work it needs to do is to ensure we have the boundaries for the Dáil and European elections by 30 August. That report will come in to both Houses. That is the final date by which we need to do that. There is pressure in that regard, given that the census was delayed because of Covid. There is a constitutional imperative for this work to be done. It is not that we cannot do it or bring forward a boundary commission report. We have some of the infrastructure in place now. An Coimisiún Toghcháin is in place and could potentially have a role in this but we need to consider it further. That is not fudging the point. The Senator understands the issue in her university relating to the complexities in the context of the register and its maintenance. I thank her for tabling the amendments.