Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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263. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on the establishment of an electoral commission to take over many of the functions related to the conduct of elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40113/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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In 2015, on the basis of a consultation paper prepared by my Department, and at the invitation of the then Minister, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht undertook a public consultation process on the establishment of an electoral commission. The Committee published a report on the consultation in January 2016. This report contains a series of recommendations regarding the establishment of an electoral commission, including functions which should be assigned to it; independence, membership and accountability mechanisms; and the establishment process. The report will inform the implementation of the commitment in A Programme for a Partnership Government on establishing an electoral commission. The establishment of an electoral commission will bring a fundamentally changed approach to the management and administration of elections and will require detailed consideration and analysis prior to legislating for its establishment. The matter is currently under consideration in my Department.