03 June 2015
Leo Bollins
Clerk to the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht
Leinster House
Dublin 2
Ireland
Dear Mr Bollins
I enclose a submission to the Joint Committee in relation to the consultation on the
establishment of an Electoral Commission in Ireland.
If you wish to discuss the matter I can be contacted at: telephone 057-9363558, email
Jimmy.McMeel@finance.gov.ie
Yours sincerely
Jimmy McMeel
Principal
Consultation on the establishment of an Electoral Commission
in Ireland.
Submission to the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture
and the Gaeltacht
Name: Department of Finance (Jimmy McMeel, Principal)
The Exchequer Section in the Department makes all of the payments
(except those made by the NTMA) from the Central Fund. In the
current context, this includes the payments to Returning Officers for
the expected cost of running elections/referendums, payments for
recoupment of candidates' expenses, payments to An Post in respect
of election/referendum related expenditure, payments to political
parties, to party leaders and independents. The Department also
checks the accounts submitted by Returning Officers after
elections/referendums. The above-mentioned disbursements from
the Central Fund are accounted for in the annual Finance Accounts,
which are prepared by the Department of Finance and for which the
Secretary General of the Department is the Accounting Officer.
The Department's submission takes the form of answers to the
questions posed. The main point of the submission is that
accountability aspects in relation to the costs of Returning Officers
in conducting elections/referendums should move from the
Department to the new Electoral Commission.
The submission contains an annex which updates the costs in the
Consultation Paper to include costs in 2014 on electoral events.
The Department would be happy to appear, if needed, at a public
session of the Committee.
1
Functions
1.
What existing functions in the conduct and management of
elections and referendums would be transferred to such a
Commission?
The Department of Finance has a financial role and accountability
under the current arrangements for elections/referendums. The
Department considers that, amongst other things, the new Electoral
Commission should assume financial responsibility for the running
of elections and referendums. It should be fully accountable for all
expenditure on the conduct of elections and referendums and do
what is necessary to that end. The establishment of a dedicated
Electoral Commission would enable a more streamlined,
coordinated approach in relation to the logistics involved in running
elections. If the current arrangements for conducting election using
Returning Officers (ROs) continue, the Commission should be given
responsibility for checking the accounts of the ROs and making
payments to the ROs (the Commission would be funded by the Dept.
of Finance from the Central Fund). Alternatively, the Commission
centrally could organise all payments and accounting on behalf of
the ROs as well as other matters that are common to ROs.
2.
What functions would remain with existing actors and why?
As the Minister for Finance (and in certain circumstances his agent
the NTMA) has the exclusive right to make disbursements from the
Central Fund and assuming that funding for the Electoral
Commission (certainly for election/referendum costs) would come
from the Fund, this would entail a continuing function for the
Minister for Finance in respect of election/referendums. However, if
the Commission were given responsibility for financial matters
arising from elections, the disbursement of the funding could be
arranged on a much more aggregated basis compared to the current
system. Operationally it might follow a combination of models: the
Oireachtas Commission which is financed from the Central Fund
and agencies funded from Votes of Departments. The Department
of Finance considers that the Department of Public Expenditure and
Reform, having regard to its over-arching responsibility and
expertise in public expenditure matters, should continue to have a
function in approving the expenditure of an Electoral Commission
at an aggregate level, the scheme for Returning Officers charges (the
Charges Order) and for drawdowns from the Central Fund (for those
matters financed from the Central Fund).
2
Cost
1.
What is the sum of the costs incurred by all actors involved in
electoral (including referendum) management?
In the Department of Finance the costs are: a supervisor (50% of
time) and 2 clerical staff in checking and clearing the accounts
submitted by the Returning Officers which amount to €100,000 per
annum (gross of pension related deduction). This is before any
overheads e.g. heating, light, IT etc or superannuation. The costs
charged to the Central Fund for electoral events are as set out in the
Consultation Paper on the Establishment of an Electoral
Commission in Ireland from the Department of the Environment,
Community and Local Government. To provide more recent data
this Department is now setting out 2014 costs – these are in the
Appendix
2.
How would and should the establishment of the Commission
affect these costs?
If the Electoral Commission had responsibility for checking the RO
accounts, these costs would be removed from the Vote of the
Department of Finance, but the tasks (or similar tasks) would
probably still have to be carried out. Effectively the costs would be
transferred to the Commission, but that is not an argument for not
doing so.
3
Independence and accountability / Membership
1. How would the Commission's independence be promoted along with
its accountability to the Houses of the Oireachtas / Government for
carrying
out
the
functions
assigned
to
it?
An appropriate balance need to be maintained between
independence and accountability given the importance of elections
in a democratic society. In terms of the financial aspects, which is
where the Department of Finance has an involvement, independence
may not be greatly impacted. Charging the cost of elections and
referendums to the Central Fund rather than to a Vote is important
in terms of the independence of the electoral system and this should
continue.
Because expenditure on the running of elections, referendums is
charged directly to the Central Fund it is accounted for in the annual
Finance Accounts. This means the Accounting Officer (Secretary
General) of the Department of Finance is accountable, which is not
wholly satisfactory as it makes him/her responsible for RO
expenditure for detailed matters that nowadays are at some remove
from the core functions of his/her Department. Accountability
should be improved by having it reside with a person whose core
functions include responsibility for the financial aspects of elections,
referendums.
2. What mechanisms would be used to promote this accountability?
As stated above, from the perspective of the Department of Finance,
accountability would be improved by assigning financial
responsibility in relation to the running of elections to an Electoral
Commission and making the person in charge of that organisation
accountable. The existing mechanisms for audit by the Comptroller
and Auditor General and examination by the PAC would continue.
In addition, the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the
Gaeltacht may wish to discuss the annual budget and business plan
with the CEO of the Commission.
3. Who should be a Member and how should members of the
Commission
be
appointed?
The Department has no strong view in relation to this.
4
Establishment process
1. Should the establishment of the Commission be undertaken on a
phased basis, as recommended by the report commissioned by the
Department from the Geary Institute, or some other way?
The Department of Finance's interest in these matters is quite narrow
i.e. the financing and accountability dimensions, which arise under
the current approach. It appears that the Geary report envisaged that
the Commission would be established first of all and then it would
come to a view on what its functions should be. It is likely that that
spending on electoral events (taking the polls and counting votes
cast) will be a large component of expenditure on an ongoing basis
and merits consideration in a review of functions. If the process
follows the Geary recommendation, this Department would expect
to be consulted by the Commission when reviewing its powers and
functions, given that the Department under the current approach has
considerable responsibility in relation to the spending on electoral
events.
2. Should it exist alongside SIPO (Standards in Public Office
Commission)
or
within
SIPO?
SIPO has a role in relation to certain expenditure e.g. candidates
costs which are paid from the Central Fund by the Department of
Finance. The Department has no strong view in relation to this
question other than as a matter of economy and operational
efficiency it would be preferable to have fewer - rather than more agencies. However, the Department notes that SIPO is within the
Office of the Ombudsman which has an investigative, quasi-judicial
remit rather than being an operational body. Conducting elections
and referendums is largely an operational activity.
APPENDIX – Financial Data on 2014 Electoral Events
Expenses
Taking the poll for the local and European elections and counting the votes at the European
elections - Returning Officers
Printing - Office of Public Works (OPW)
An Post – delivery of polling cards, postal ballots, candidate literature
Data Ireland - (Subsidiary of An Post)
Euro & Local Elections
May 2014
12,123,040.15
345,826.19
10,714,869.31
55,350.00
Dublin West Bye Election - nomination process, count - Returning Officer
105,322.50
Longford Westmeath Bye Election - nomination process, count - Returning Officer
145,369.65
Reimbursement of Candidate Election Expenses
Total
Expenses
Taking the poll and counting the votes - Returning Officers
974,124.07
24,463,901.87
Fiscal Stability Treaty
May 2012
10,976,469.42
National count centre - Referendum Returning Officer
52,877.74
Printing and equipment - Office of Public Works (OPW)
183,228.10
Delivery of postal ballots and of polling cards incorporating the Statement for the
Information of Voters - An Post
Total
Expenses
Taking the poll and counting the votes - Returning Officers
Printing - Office of Public Works (OPW)
Delivery of polling cards and postal ballots - An Post
1,517,833.74
12,730,409.00
Dublin South West &
Roscommon South
Leitrim Bye Election
October 2014
Dublin West &
Longford
Westmeath Bye
Election May 2014
Seanad (Panel Members)
Bye Election Oct 2014
Meath East Bye
Election March 2013
512,368.56
250,692.15
4,439.19
187,601.10
15,151.39
13,112.79
64.00
5,673.58
472,205.19
300,337.52
2,676.00
246,183.84
136,002.83
700,145.29
7,179.19
33,415.29
472,873.81
Delivery of free election communications on behalf of candidates and parties - An Post
Data Ireland - (Subsidiary of An Post)
Reimbursement of candidate election expenses
Total
9,225.00
69,600.00
1,078,550.14