Before I respond to the proposed amendments, I will make a general point. Throughout the course of this Bill the Government has made great efforts to ensure that, in the establishment of this commission, its core work will be on public participation and inclusion. Certainly, during the pre-legislative scrutiny phase, the range of organisations that came in, spoke about and contributed to that really important part of the process was reflective of what we are trying to achieve with the commission, which is about par…

I thank Senator Ruane for agreeing to withdraw amendment No. 4. I would add that the role of the Chief Justice in recommending a judge of the superior courts has been well established in relation to codes, including the provisions of the Electoral Act 1997 relating to constituency commissions, for many years. Again, however, I welcome that. I will make a general point regarding the overall approach and the commission's potential around the participation and inclusion of minorities in our electoral system. We have g…

This proposed amendment, which has been put forward by Senators Ruane, Higgins, Black and Flynn, relates to section 10(5) of the Bill, which applies to the reappointment of ordinary members of the commission. The Bill currently states that when a person is being reappointed, it will not be necessary for him or her to participate in a selection competition undertaken by the Public Appointments Service nor to be recommended for reappointment following the passing of supporting resolution by each House of the Oireacht…

Again, I do not see a necessity for this amendment so I will not be supporting it.

I thank Senators Ruane, Higgins, Black and Flynn for this amendment, which seeks to amend the existing provision in order that the commission be required to make publicly available all of its meeting documents. It is not advisable to place a blanket requirement on the commission to publish all of its meeting documents as certain meeting documents may relate to sensitive matters on such issues as staffing and ongoing investigations under Parts 4 or 5. It is appropriate that some discretion be given to the commission…

I have given a commitment in the Dáil select committee to Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and others throughout this process that, upon the establishment of the commission, among its first duties will be to carry out a comprehensive review of the 1997 Act. We believe this is the correct way to address the issue of "political purposes" as it relates to political funding. We have had a number of conversations and meetings about this. I met separately with the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the Coalition for Civil Soci…

Again, to give that reassurance, making that political commitment is important. It is critically important we do that here, in the Dáil and in the select committee. I am giving that commitment to the Senator and to the organisations that have campaigned on this so well over recent years that it is going to happen within the lifetime of this Government Separately, if we are prescriptive about this in the legislation, we will limit the commission in some ways on certain pieces of research. There is a broader issue he…

I am proud to be fringe and crazy.

It has been an excellent debate and I thank all Senators for their contributions. I will speak specifically to the amendments first and then I will come back in, if that is okay. I thank the Senators for tabling these amendments relating to An Coimisiún Toghcháin, considering and making recommendations in relation to the voting age. Chapter 9 of Part 2 empowers an coimisiún with a new policy research and advisory function. In consideration of an coimisiún’s independence, I do not intend to legislate to require it t…

Yes, I think it is. It is referenced in the programme for Government so there is a programme for Government commitment. We are trying to go broader than that and look at the experience in other jurisdictions. That came out loud and clear from contributions on other Stages of the Bill. While the programme for Government commits to consideration of the Scottish experience, we are clear that we want to have a broader look at the experience in other jurisdictions.

We will try to do that if my diary allows.

Again, I thank Senators for the proposed amendment, which would require that the commission would lay a record of all contracts for consultants or advisers before both Houses of the Oireachtas on a biannual basis. Appendix B5 of the Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies - Business and Financial Reporting Requirements, requires that expenditure by public bodies on external consultancy and advisory services be set out as part of their annual report. Given that the commission is required to lay its annua…

I thank Senators Moynihan, Hoey, Sherlock and Wall for tabling this amendment. Deputy Nash raised the matter to which it relates on Committee Stage in the Dáil and I undertook to consult with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on it. In the intervening period, I was advised that the reference in the Bill to the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 is correct and it is not necessary to provide for an amendment along the lines suggested. Indeed, the reference to the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956 in the Bill is …

I understand the Senator is not proceeding with amendment No. 20.

I will speak to amendments Nos. 19 and 20 nonetheless because they are related. Amendments Nos. 19 and 20 propose to remove section 20(6) and instead insert that the chief executive can be reappointed only once. Both approaches seek to achieve the same goal and the option put forward by the Senators was considered in the course of drafting. However, my officials and I were guided by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel on the best form of wording and so intend to proceed with the text in the Bill. Amendment No. …

It is clear we are trying to have an equitable process for the removal of a chief executive. It correctly allows the chief executive to make representations. It must be equitable for due process. That is what we are trying to achieve here.

I will seek clarity for the Senator.

I will get clarification on that for the Senator.

I thank Senators Ruane, Higgins, Black and Flynn for these amendments. Amendment No. 23 seeks to amend existing provisions in order that, in addition to an coimisiún’s annual report being published, it would be published in an accessible manner. Amendment No. 51 seeks to provide that the post-electoral event reviews that an coimisiún may produce would be published in accessible formats. I am not able to accept these amendments for the following reasons. The wording of amendment No. 23, which relates to the publicat…

Section 28 sets out that the Central Statistics Office and Ordnance Survey Ireland, OSI, shall provide assistance to the commission in its work free of charge. This section transposes existing legislation relating to constituency reviews. The amendment proposes to add to this section that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission will also provide assistance free of charge. Section 40(3) of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 provides that the IHREC shall assist public bodies in carrying ou…