A report into alleged absentee voting in the Dáil has not recommended any sanctions against the TDs involved.
The Ceann Comhairle ordered the investigation after it emerged Fianna Fáil TD Niall Collins voted on behalf of his colleague Timmy Dooley while he was not in the Dáil chamber.
Meanwhile, the party’s Brexit spokesperson Lisa Chambers as admitted recording a vote on behalf of its deputy leader Dara Calleary.
She said she recorded the vote by mistake after sitting in the wrong seat.
She then moved to her own seat, voted again and did not correct the record.
Fianna Fáil had also submitted video footage it said showed Fine Gael ministers voting on behalf of absent colleagues; however, the report only focused on the actions of the Fianna Fáil TDs.
The report was submitted to a private sitting of the Dáil Committee on Procedures meets this morning.
It called for a full review of the voting system but recommended no sanction against any of the TDs involved as the issue is also before the Ethics Committee.
It is due to be debated in the Dáil this afternoon.
So the #VoteGate review in summary:
Recommends:
- Review of voting system
- All TDs must be in seats for votes
- No TD can ask someone else to vote for them
- Voting can't start until all in seats
- Procedure committee needs power to suspend members who abuse system— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) October 24, 2019
It finds that Deputy Collins was of the belief that Deputy Dooley would return to the chamber when he voted on his behalf.
It says in future voting shouldn’t start until all TDs are in their seats – and finds that the practice of colleagues pressing buttons on each other’s behalf should end.
It calls for the Procedures Committee to be handed powers to sanction TDs when irregularities occur.
It also calls for a review of international best practice – with findings due next March.
Also no sanctions for the TDs involved in this report as another committee is examining it after Noel Rock's complaint
— Seán Defoe (@SeanDefoe) October 24, 2019
Nearly half of TDs who answered a Newstalk survey on Monday admitted to voting on behalf of someone else in the Dáil chamber.
Meanwhile, four in 10 said they had asked someone to vote on their behalf.
However, none admitted voting on behalf of someone who was outside the chamber at the time.
The Ceann Comhairle has warned that all votes in the Dáil this week will only be carried out when TDs are in their own allocated seats.
With reporting from Seán Defoe
