New laws preventing Oireachtas members standing in local elections are elitist, it was claimed in the High Court yesterday.
The legislation was "an illegitimate, undemocratic and unconstitutional endeavour" based on the view that persons elected to local authorities should confine themselves exclusively to local matters while TDs and Senators should concern themselves only with "high politics", it was claimed.
Mr Gerard Hogan SC was opening a challenge by the Co Mayo Fine Gael TD, Mr Michael Ring, to the Local Government (No. 2) Act, 2003. The legislation is being defended by Mr Donal O'Donnell SC, for the Attorney General.
The 2003 Act amends the Local Government Act of 2001 and disqualifies a member of either House of the Oireachtas from being elected or co-opted to or from being a member of a local authority.
Mr Hogan said the 2003 Act was "effectively saying that members of the Dáil and Seanad should concern themselves exclusively with the high politics of debating a committee amendment to the Finance Bill or the high politics involved in the European Union rather than the more humdrum, banal but, to the voter, just as important and perhaps more important issues, such as local authority housing, medical cards or the repair of roads."
The 2003 Act was an "illegitimate, undemocratic and unconstitutional endeavour" to give effect to a political theory by effectively "re-engineering membership of the Oireachtas" to ensure that Dáil deputies could not simultaneously be members of a local authority.
Mr Ring claims he has a constitutional right to stand for both the Dáil and county council and that his electorate equally has a democratic and constitutional right to elect him to both institutions, should they choose.
The right to stand for political office was a sacred right, carefully treasured by the Constitution, Mr Hogan said. The Attorney General would have to satisfy the court that there were pressing reasons necessary as to why, in a democratic society, this constitutional right should be interfered with.
In evidence, Mr Ring said he had been a member of a local authority for 25 years and believed that both positions complemented each other and kept him in touch with people. If he was not a member of Mayo County Council, he would lose a major part of his political base.
Before the new legislation took effect in 2003, there were about 129/130 members of both the Dáil and the Seanad who were members of local authorities. Out of 166 Dáil members, he believed over 100 were members of local authorities.
Mr Ring said that what kept him in the Dáil was not being a legislator but ground work and dealing with such matters as medical cards, roads, headage payments and social welfare. It was about meeting and talking to people. One of his own party members had been a wonderful legislator and had worked on major legislation but sadly did not get re-elected.
The Attorney General denies that the legislation is contrary to the Constitution and also denies that it affects Mr Ring's right to be elected to the Dáil.
The State argues the new laws maximise the effectiveness of persons who were members of local authorities by disqualifying persons from simultaneously being members of the Oireachtas and local government. It is also claimed the laws relieve local authorities of the requirements to order business meetings in a manner which don't conflict with the demands on time, energy and resources imposed on Oireachtas members who were also members of local authorities; and relieve the Oireachtas of the need to order businesses around the requirements of persons who were members simultaneously of local authorities.
Prof Richard Sinnott, of UCD, said he has written extensively on politics. The evidence available from opinion polls and research carried out after the 2002 General Election indicated that local matters were very important to voters, more important than any other single consideration. He said Mr Ring had collected information from 18, mainly European, embassies in Dublin and only four had a total ban on the dual mandate.
The case continues today.