Work is to get underway on setting up a dedicated electoral commission.

The new commission is being set up on a statutory basis, and will be an independent public body.

When established, it would oversee how all elections are carried out in Ireland.

An Oireachtas report has previously recommend a commission should have responsibilities such as reforming the electoral register and having an oversight and coordination role in organising elections.

It will also have a "research and advisory function" to inform the Government and Oireachtas on possible reforms to electoral law.

The Government has approved the plans, and work will now begin on drafting the necessary legislation.

Housing, Planning and Local Government Minister Eoghan Murphy said: “I am delighted to be bringing forward the establishment of an Electoral Commission which will bring added coordination to our electoral functions.

"It will significantly contribute to the development of our electoral system and policies into the future.”

There have long been calls for an electoral commission to be established, with an Oireachtas committee publishing a report in January 2016 recommending it be set up 'without delay'.

Several commentators also called for have called for new regulations for elections and referendums in the wake of the Eighth Amendment vote last year, which would deal with issues such as online advertising and election posters.

Speaking in May 2018, Fianna Fáil's James Lawless suggested: "[A commission would] help deal with a number of issues specifically relating to campaigning such as whether limits should be placed on the use of campaign posters, the lack of spending caps in referendum campaigns, whether the broadcasting moratorium is practical given the emergence of social media and the lack of regulation in relation to online campaigning."

Main image: File photo of voters casting their ballots during the marriage quality referendum. Photograph: Sasko Lazarov/RollingNews.ie