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European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2009

I thank noble Lords for the broad support that has been expressed. I agree that Northern Ireland is certainly ahead of the field in many aspects of elections, and it is a delight to be associated with being ahead of the field. I am grateful to the noble Lord for explaining the importance of the release of information, especially in a Northern Ireland context. I understand that there is a sort of conflict with logic here, if I might put it like that, because we are bringing Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the United Kingdom, but not in respect of the availability of information. It is best for Northern Ireland; although it is not logical, we cannot always be logical if we want to serve democracy in the best way. In the way in which we are introducing this part of the regulation, we want to best serve democracy in Northern Ireland. Consolidation of all the orders and regulations that have been introduced over the past five years is a very attractive idea, and I will take it back to the department. I am sure that it will wish to act on that if it is at all possible, but it would be an enormous amount of work. The noble Baroness, Lady Garden, is right to be concerned about timing. We would not wish to have been in a position where we were introducing these regulations so close to the European elections. However, we have been working closely and sharing drafts with the Electoral Commission and the chief electoral officer at a very early stage in the drafting. That has allowed electoral administrators to put together the necessary guidance for the election. I do not think that there will be significant practical implications for the election. It was better for us to take time over ensuring that the regulations were right rather than acting swiftly, so I am glad that we took more time than perhaps might have been expected. Going back to the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Bew, about the importance of not favouring one side over the other in Northern Ireland, I emphasise that we will review this after the elections with the Electoral Commission, and we will come back to it. The by-elections and the lacuna are being dealt with, as I understand it, in the Political Parties and Elections Bill, so the noble Lord should express his concerns when that Bill is taken through this House. With that, I thank noble Lords for their support. This set of regulations is dense but relatively simple. They are extremely important in ensuring that the June elections in Northern Ireland will be administered successfully, so they are an important contribution to nurturing democracy. Motion agreed.