Committee Reports::Report - Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Bill, 1952::18 June, 1953::Proceedings of the Joint Committee


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Committee Reports > List of Committees > Seanad > 1953 > Select Committee on the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Bill, 1952 > Report - Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Bill, 1952

IMEACHTA AN ROGHA-CHOISTE.

PROCEEDINGS OF SELECT COMMITTEE.

Déardaoin, 18ú Meitheamh, 1953.

Thursday, 18th June, 1953.

1. The Committee met at 12 noon in Committee Room 106.

2. Present: The Cathaoirleach (Senator Liam Ó Buachalla) in the Chair; Senators Douglas, M. Hayes, Stanford and Yeats.

3. Messrs. M. Lawless and D. Haughey of the Department of Local Government attended the Select Committee.

4. The Committee took the Bill into consideration.

(i) New section.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“Before section 1, page 2, to insert a new section as follows:—

‘Commencement.

1. This Act shall come into operation on such day as the Minister for Local Government appoints by order’ ”.

Question:—“That the new section be there inserted”—put, and agreed to.

(ii) Section 1 agreed to.

(iii) New section.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“Before section 2, page 2 to insert a new section as follows:—

‘Amendment of section 12 of Principal Act.

2. Section 12 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (3) of the following subsection:

“(3a) The chairman of the appeal board shall preside at every meeting thereof and sub-section (4) of this section shall accordingly not apply in relation to the chairman.” ’ ”

Question:—“That the new section be there inserted”—put, and agreed to.

(iv) Section 2.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“In page 2, lines 31 and 32, to delete ‘which appears to him to be made by a body which is’ and substitute ‘made by a body which appears to him to be”’.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford):

“In page 2, lines 34 and 35, and page 3, lines 6 and 7, to delete ‘the registration of which’ and substitute ‘whose registration’ and in page 2, line 35, and page 3, line 13, to delete ‘the application of which’ and substitute ‘whose application’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“In page 3, line 12, to delete ‘is’ and substitute ‘appears to him to be’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“To add to the section a new subsection as follows:—

‘(2) Section 16 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the addition thereto of the following subsections:

“(7) Nothing in section 9 or section 11 of this Act shall apply in relation to any annual revision of the register of nominating bodies.

(8) For the purposes of this and any subsequent section of this Act a body shall be regarded as affiliated to another body when the first-mentioned body is a member of or represented on the other body and the objects of the other body include the furtherance of the principal objects of the first-mentioned body.” ’ ”

Question put, and agreed to.

Section, as amended, agreed to.

(v) Section 3.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“In subsection (2) page 3, to delete lines 40 to 53 and substitute the following:—

‘(b) in the case of an allowance of an application by a body for registration in respect of any particular panel, any body which applied at the annual revision for registration in respect of the same panel and any nominating body which is registered in respect of the same panel’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“In subsection (3), page 4, to delete in line 2 ‘is’ and substitute ‘appears to the Seanad returning officer to be’ and to delete in lines 20 to 22 ‘other body which has applied at the annual revision for registration in the register of nominating bodies’ and substitute ‘body which appears to him to be a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to the body proposing to appeal and which is registered in the register of nominating bodies or has applied at the annual revision for registration therein’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford):

“In subsection (3), page 4, to delete in lines 14 to 16, and in lines 34 and 35 ‘the 22nd day of March in the year in which the decision appealed against was given’ and substitute in each case ‘twelve o’clock noon on the 22nd day (being a week-day) or the 21st day (being a Saturday) of March in the year in which the decision appealed against was given, and any such comments which are received by the Clerk of Dáil Éireann after that hour on that day shall not be entertained or considered by the appeal board’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Yeats):

“In subsection (3), page 4, line 19, to delete ‘allowance’ and substitute ‘disallowance’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Section, as amended, agreed to.

(vi) Section 4.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“In page 4, lines 43 and 44, to delete ‘which is a registration that has come into force on the current annual revision and’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Section, as amended, agreed to.

(vii) Section 5.

Question “That the section stand part of the Bill” put, and negatived.

(viii) Section 6 postponed.

(ix) Sections 7, 8 and 9 agreed to.

(x) Sections 10 and 11 postponed.

(xi) Section 12 agreed to.

(xii) Sections 13 and 14 postponed.

(xiii) New section.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“Before section 15, page 8, to insert a new section as follows:—

‘Amendment of Part V of Principal Act.

15. Part V of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for Chapter II of the following Chapter:

“Chapter II.

Nominating Bodies Sub-panel Casual Vacancies.

58A. (1) Where the Minister makes a Seanad bye-election order in respect of a casual vacancy in the membership of Seanad Éireann which is stated in such order to be a vacancy in respect of the nominating bodies sub-panel of a particular panel—

(a)the Seanad returning officer shall hold, in accordance with this Act, an election to fill the vacancy.

(b)a nominating body which is registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of such panel shall be entitled to nominate one candidate for election, and

(c)within ten days after the making of such order, the Seanad returning officer shall send by post to every nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of such panel a form of nomination paper and also a notice in the prescribed form informing the body of its right to nominate one candidate for election and giving to the body such information and instructions in relation to the making of the nomination as the Minister thinks proper to prescribe.

(2) A nomination such as aforesaid shall be made in accordance with the following provisions:

(a)the nomination shall be made in writing on a nomination paper in the prescribed form;

(b)the nomination paper shall contain the particulars required by the prescribed form of nomination paper to be stated therein, and in particular, a statement of the qualification of the person thereby nominated for the panel mentioned in the relevant Seanad bye-election order, and shall be signed by the nominating body;

(c)where the nominating body is a body corporate, the nomination paper shall be signed by the body by affixing to such paper the seal of the body in the manner and with the counter-signatures required by the constitution, articles of association, or other regulations of the body;

(d)where the nominating body is not a body corporate, the nomination paper shall be signed in the name of the body by some person having authority to sign in that name;

(e)the nomination paper shall be delivered to or sent by post to the Seanad returning officer.

(3) In the case of the Irish County Councils’ General Council or the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland, the person nominated under this section shall be chosen by the members of the body voting on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote.

(4) A nomination paper which purports to be sealed with the seal of a body corporate which is a nominating body and to be countersigned shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been so sealed in the manner and with the counter-signatures required by the constitution, articles of association, or other regulations of the body.

(5) A nomination paper which purports to be signed in the name of an unincorporated body which is a nominating body shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to have been so signed by a person having authority to sign in that name.

(6) Where a nominating body purports to nominate more than one person by the same nomination paper or by separate nomination papers, the nomination paper or nomination papers shall be wholly void.

(7) The Seanad returning officer shall furnish free of charge on request to a nominating body such number of forms of nomination paper (in addition to the form which he is required by subsection (1) of this section to send to the body) as the body may reasonably require.

(8) The provisions of subsections (2), (3), (4) and (6) of section 67 and of sections 68, 68A, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74 and 75 of this Act shall apply in relation to a nominating bodies sub-panel casual vacancy in like manner as they apply in relation to an Oireachtas sub-panel casual vacancy” .’ ”

Question:—“That the new section be there inserted”—put, and agreed to.

(xiv) New section.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“Before section 15, page 8, to insert a new section as follows:—

‘Amendment of Chapter III of Part V of Principal Act.	15. Chapter III of Part V of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 68 of the following section:
‘Amendment of Chapter III of Part V of Principal Act.	“68A. (1) If on the expiration of the time for receiving nomination papers the Seanad returning officer has not received a nomination paper, or if, following the ruling upon nominations, no candidate stands validly nominated, the Seanad returning officer shall so report to the Minister and the relevant Seanad bye-election order shall thereupon become and be annulled, and the Minister shall make a new Seanad bye-election order in lieu thereof.
	(2) A new Seanad bye-election order made under subsection (1) of this section shall be a Seanad bye-election order within the meaning and for the purposes of this Act and this Act (including this section) shall apply and have effect in relation thereto, save that the time within which the Minister shall make such new Seanad bye-election order shall be whichever of the following periods later expires, that is to say, one hundred and eighty days after he receives the relevant notice of a casual vacancy from the Clerk of Seanad Éireann or sixty days after he receives the report mentioned in the said subsection (1) from the Seanad returning officer.
	(3) The annulment of a Seanad bye-election order by virtue of this section shall not prejudice or affect the right of the Seanad returning officer to be paid under this Act his reasonable charges in respect of duties performed in pursuance of such order” .’ ”

Question:—“That the new section be there inserted”—put, and agreed to.

(xv) New section.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“Before section 15, page 8, to insert a new section as follows:—

‘Repeals. 15. Sections 21, 22, 23, 32, 33, 34 and 35 of the Principal Act are hereby repealed.’ ”

Question:—“That the new section be there inserted”—put, and agreed to.

(xvi) Postponed sections 6, 10, 11, 13 and 14.

Question:—“That the sections stand part of the Bill”—put, and negatived.

(xvii) Section 15 agreed to.

(xviii) Section 16.

Amendment proposed (Senator Yeats):

“In page 8, lines 30 and 32 to delete ‘2’ and substitute ‘3’.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Section, as amended, agreed to.

(xix) Schedule.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford):

“In page 8, before the item at reference number 1, to insert a new item as follows:—

Section 2

In the definition of “provisional nominating bodies sub-panel” “section 28” shall be substituted for “section 35”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Yeats):

“In page 8, in the third column at reference number 2, to delete paragraph (ii) and substitute:

‘(ii)“at twelve o’clock noon on the 14th day (being a week-day) or the 13th day (being a Saturday) of February” shall be substituted for “on the 15th day of February”,

(iii)“and any such application which is received by the Seanad returning officer after that period shall not be entertained or examined by him” shall be added at the end of the subsection.’ ”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford):

‘In page 8, in the third column at reference number 3, to delete “‘to or sent by post so as to reach’ shall be substituted for ‘or sent by post to’ ” and substitute “ ‘to or sent by post so as to reach the Clerk of Dáil Éireann before twelve o’clock noon on the 15th day (being a week-day) or the 14th day (being a Saturday) of March in the year in which the decision appealed against was given, and any such appeal which is received by the Clerk of Dáil Éireann after that hour on that day shall not be entertained or considered by the appeal board’ shall be substituted for ‘or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Éireann on or before the 15th day of March in the year in which the decision appealed against was given’ ” ’.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“In page 9, in the third column at reference number 5, to delete paragraph (i)”.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“In page 9, to delete the item at reference number 6.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford)

‘In page 9, in the third column at reference number 7, to delete “subsection (1) ‘nomination’ shall be substituted in paragraph (c) for ‘nominating’ and in.” ’

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Yeats):

“In page 9, before the item at reference number 10, to insert a new item as follows:—

Section 28

In subsection (2) “provisional nominating bodies sub-panel” shall be substituted for “nominating bodies list”.

In subsection (7) “provisional nominating bodies sub-panels” shall be substituted for “nominating bodies lists” and “sub-panel” for “list.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“In page 9, to delete the item at reference number 10.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford):

“In page 9, before the item at reference number 14, to insert a new item as follows:—

14	Section 56	In subsection (1) “subsection (3) of this section” shall be substituted for “whichever of the two next following subsections of this section is applicable”.
		Subsection (2) shall be deleted.
		In subsection (3) “Where the vacancy in respect of which a Seanad bye-election order is made is an Oireachtas sub-panel vacancy” shall be deleted.

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“In page 9, to delete the item at reference No. 14.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Yeats):

“In page 9, to delete the item at reference No. 15.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Michael Hayes):

“In page 9, to delete the item at reference No. 16.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Stanford):

“In page 10, in the third column at reference number 19, to delete “and in subsection (2) ‘section 68’ shall be substituted for ‘this Part”’.’

Question put, and agreed to.

Amendment proposed (Senator Douglas):

“In page 10, in the third column at reference number 20, to add a new paragraph as follows:—

‘In paragraph (2) of Rule 8, the following subparagraphs shall be inserted after subparagraph (e):

“(e1)in case the said premises is situate in a county, the manager under the County Management Acts, 1940 and 1942, for the county and the secretary to the council of the county,

(e2)in case the said premises is situate in a county borough, the manager under the Acts relating to the management of the county borough.” ’ ”

Question put, and agreed to.

Schedule, as amended, agreed to.

(xx) Title agreed to.

5. The Chairman brought forward a Draft Report which was read.

Motion made (Senator Douglas):

“That the Chairman’s Draft Report be the Report of the Committee.”

Question put, and agreed to.

Ordered; That the Report be presented to the Seanad.

6. The Committee concluded its business at 1 p.m.