SINN FÉIN HAS called on President Michael D Higgins to reject the Government’s electoral reform bill after the European Commission raised concerns about its incompatibility with EU regulations.
The European Commission raised concerns about the Electoral Reform Bill after it passed through the Seanad before the Dáil broke for the summer.
The bill itself is now set to go to the President, who will decide whether or not it is signed into law.
In particular, the Commission raised concerns about conflicts between the Bill and the EU e-Commerce Directive, particularly around the regulation of online political advertising.
The bill itself would make online platforms be responsible for assessing and verifying the identity of people purchasing political ads, which the Commission believes places too much responsibility on these platforms.
According to the Commissions judgement, this is primarily due to the need to monitor all advertising, to avoid liability for running political ads without verified information.
The Commission has set the Irish Government a deadline of 5 August to respond to the issues with the legislation.
TDs also took issue with the number of amendments brought forward by the Government, which were passed through the Dáil quickly this criticism.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said that the Government “rammed” the bill through both chambers without enough scrutiny.
“Throughout its passage, there was strong cross-party support for developing the best possible piece of legislation. Unfortunately that collegiality was soured at the bill’s final stages when government rammed through substantive amendments without adequate Oireachtas scrutiny,” Ó Broin said.
“As the Bill reached its final stage through the Dáil, Sinn Féin and other opposition parties urged government to withdraw the controversial amendments and bring them back as amending legislation in the Autumn for proper scrutiny and consideration. We argued that failure to do so would undermine public confidence in this crucial legislation.”
According to Ó Broin, the European Commission’s opinion makes a strong case to return the legislation to the Dáil for further scrutiny.
“Unfortunately the government ignored the views of opposition, concealed the European Commission’s legal opinion and has now placed President Higgins in an appalling position.
“I believe the right course of action at this point is for the President to return the Bill to the Dáil for further consideration on all of the controversial aspects of the Bill to ensure we get it right.
“The Oireachtas needs to consider the European Commission’s view in full to determine whether there are valid or an over reach into an area where the Commission has no competence.”
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