Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1954

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Number 1 of 1954.

SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1954.

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

SCHEDULE.

Minor and Consequential Amendments of Principal Act.

Number 1 of 1954.

SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1954.

AN ACT TO AMEND AND EXTEND THE SEANAD ELECTORAL (PANEL MEMBERS) ACT, 1947 . [22nd February, 1954.]

BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:—

Commencement.

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

Principal Act.

2.—In this Act “the Principal Act” means the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1947 (No. 42 of 1947).

Amendment of section 12 of Principal Act.

3.—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 subsection (4) of this section shall accordingly not apply in relation to the chairman.”

Amendment of section 16 of Principal Act.

4.—(1) Section 16 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution of the following subsections for subsections (3), (4) and (5):

“(3) On the 15th day of February or, if that day is a Sunday, on the 16th day of February in every year the Seanad returning officer shall revise (in this Act referred to as an annual revision) the register of nominating bodies and for that purpose—

(a) shall examine all applications for registration, deletion or amendment received by him during the period specified in subsection (2) of this section;

(b) shall disallow every application which appears to him to be irregular in form;

(c) shall disallow every application for registration which appears to him to be an application for a registration prohibited by this Act;

(d) shall disallow every application for registration as respects which the applicant fails to satisfy him that the applicant is eligible for registration in respect of the panel to which the application relates;

(e) shall disallow every application for registration made by a body which appears to him to be a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to a body which is already registered in the register (not being a body whose registration he is deleting) or whose application for such registration he is allowing;

(f) may disallow any application for registration where the registration is proper to be refused having regard to paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section 8 of this Act;

(g) may disallow any application for registration where the applicant fails or refuses to give any information required of the applicant under this section;

(h) shall allow all such applications for registration as he does not disallow;

(i) shall delete from the register the registration of every body which has duly applied for such deletion;

(j) shall delete from the register the registration of every body which appears to him to have ceased to exist;

(k) shall delete from the register the registration of every body which appears to him to have become a body whose registration is prohibited by this Act;

(l) shall delete from the register the registration of every body which appears to him to have ceased to be eligible for registration;

(m) shall delete from the register the registration of every body which appears to him to be a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to a body whose application for registration he is allowing;

(n) may make all such amendments in the register as appear to him by virtue of applications under this section or otherwise to be requisite or proper.

(4) The Seanad returning officer may require, from any applicant under this section for registration or amendment, any information relevant to the application which the Seanad returning officer may reasonably consider necessary.

(5) The Seanad returning officer may make such inquiries as he thinks proper for the purpose of any annual revision of the register of nominating bodies, but he shall not make any deletion or amendment without giving notice thereof to the body whose entry he proposes to delete or amend or without giving such body a reasonable opportunity of making representations in regard thereto unless the deletion or amendment is made by virtue of an application under this section.”

(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.”

Amendment of section 17 of Principal Act.

5.—(1) Section 17 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion in subsection (1) after paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:

“(aa) inform every body which is authorised by paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section to appeal against the allowance of an application for registration of his decision to allow such application, and”.

(2) Section 17 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of the following paragraph:

“(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,”

(3) Section 17 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after subsection (4) of the following subsections:

“(4a) In the case of an appeal referred to in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section—

(i) the appellant shall send a copy of the appeal by registered post to every body which appears to the Seanad returning officer to be a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to it and which either is registered in the register of nominating bodies or has applied at the annual revision for registration therein and shall attach the certificate or certificates of posting to the appeal before it is delivered or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Éireann,

(ii) any body to which a copy of the appeal is required by the foregoing paragraph to be sent may submit comments on the grounds of the appeal and such comments shall be made in writing and shall be delivered to or sent by post so as to reach the Clerk of Dáil Éireann not later than 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,

and to facilitate compliance with this subsection, the Seanad returning officer shall, on the request of a body proposing to appeal against the disallowance of an application, furnish the body with a statement specifying every 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.

(4b) In the case of an appeal referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section—

(i) the appellant shall send a copy of the appeal by registered post to the respondent, and shall attach the certificate of posting to the appeal before it is delivered or sent by post to the Clerk of Dáil Éireann,

(ii) the respondent may submit comments on the grounds of the appeal and such comments shall be made in writing and shall be delivered to or sent by post so as to reach the Clerk of Dáil Éireann not later than 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.”

Amendment of section 18 of Principal Act.

6.—Section 18 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the addition thereto of the following subsection:

“(6) The decision of the appeal board on any appeal considered in pursuance of this section shall comprise—

(a) if the decision reverses a decision disallowing an application by a body for registration, a direction to the Seanad returning officer for deletion from the register of any other specified registration which appears to the appeal board to be a registration of a body which is a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to the first-mentioned body, and

(b) if the decision reverses a decision allowing an application by a body for registration, a direction for registration of any other specified body as respects which, on the current annual revision, a deletion of the registration thereof has come into force or a disallowance of an application for registration thereof has been made, such deletion or disallowance having been solely on the ground that the body was a branch of or affiliated or subsidiary to the first-mentioned body.”

Amendment of section 26 of Principal Act.

7.—Section 26 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of the following subsection:

“(2) The number of persons which may be proposed for nomination to a particular panel by each nominating body registered in the register of nominating bodies in respect of the panel shall be the number obtained by dividing the appropriate number (as defined in subsection (2) of section 34 of this Act) by the total number of nominating bodies so registered if the number so obtained is a whole number, or, if it is not a whole number, the next higher whole number of persons.”

Amendment of section 27 of Principal Act.

8.—Section 27 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the deletion in subsection (6) of “either” and “or less persons”.

Amendment of section 28 of Principal Act.

9.—Section 28 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the deletion of subsections (3), (4), (5), (6) and (8).

Amendment of section 43 of Principal Act.

10.—Section 43 of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion at the end of subsection (5) of “by notice containing a copy of the panels with the addition of a statement in respect of every person on any panel of the body or persons on whose nomination he was put on such panel”.

Amendment of Part V of Principal Act.

11.—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.”

Amendment of Chapter III of Part V of Principal Act.

12.—Chapter III of Part V of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after section 68 of the following section:

“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.”

Further Amendment of Part V of Principal Act.

13.—Part V of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the insertion after Chapter IV of the following Chapter:—

“CHAPTER V.

Death or Disqualification of Candidate.

79A. (1) Where, before the latest time for receiving nominations at a Seanad bye-election, a nominating body satisfies the Seanad returning officer that a person nominated by the body has died or become disqualified for membership of Seanad Éireann, the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith cancel such nomination and thereupon it shall be deemed never to have been made.

(2) Where, before the latest time for receiving nominations at a Seanad bye-election, the Seanad returning officer is satisfied that a person nominated by members of the Oireachtas has died or become disqualified for membership of Seanad Éireann, the Seanad returning officer shall forthwith cancel such nomination and thereupon it shall be deemed never to have been made.

(3) In the counting of the votes cast at a Seanad bye-election, all the preferences recorded for a candidate of whose death (whether before or after the ruling upon nomination) the Seanad returning officer is satisfied before the close of the poll shall be disregarded and regard shall be had in lieu thereof to the next available preferences.

(4) Subject to the foregoing provisions of this section, the fact that a candidate has (whether before or after the close of the poll) died or become disqualified for membership of Seanad Éireann shall not invalidate or prejudice the nomination of the candidate or any preferences recorded for him and, if he is elected, his election shall not be invalidated by reason of his having so died or become disqualified, but he shall be deemed to have vacated his membership of Seanad Éireann immediately after his said election thereto.”

Repeals.

14.—Sections 21, 22, 23, 32, 33 and 35 and subsection (1) of section 34 of the Principal Act are hereby repealed.

Minor and consequential amendments of Principal Act.

15.—The Principal Act shall have effect subject to the amendments set out in the Schedule to this Act (being minor amendments and amendments consequential on the foregoing provisions of this Act).

Short title and collective citation.

16.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1954.

(2) The Principal Act and this Act may be cited together as the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Acts, 1947 and 1954.

SCHEDULE.

Minor and Consequential Amendments of Principal Act.

Section 15 .