15.— The Local Elections Regulations are amended by substituting the following articles for articles 11 to 20:

“Notice of election.

11.— The returning officer shall, not later than the twenty-eighth day before the polling day, give public notice of the election (in these Regulations referred to as the ‘notice of election’) stating:

(a) the times for receiving nominations;

(b) the requirement on candidates referred to in article 14(7) to secure 15 assents or make a deposit in accordance with article 15;

(c) the times and place at which nomination papers may be obtained;

(d) the times and place at which the returning officer will attend to receive nominations; and

(e) the day and the period fixed for the holding of the poll if the election is contested.

Register of political parties.

12.— On the day (disregarding any excluded day) before the latest day for the publication of the notice of election, the Registrar of Political Parties shall send to each returning officer a copy of the Register of Political Parties.

Necessity for nomination.

13.— A person shall not be entitled to have his or her name entered in a ballot paper as a candidate at an election unless that person has been nominated in the manner provided by these Regulations and the person's nomination paper has been ruled as valid by the returning officer.

Nomination of candidates.

14.— (1) At an election a person may nominate himself or herself as a candidate or may, with his or her consent, be nominated by another person (being a person registered as an elector in the area of the local authority for which the person proposes to nominate the candidate) as proposer.

(2) Each candidate shall be nominated by a separate nomination paper in the form directed by the Minister.

(3) A separate nomination paper shall be required for each local electoral area for which a candidate is nominated.

(4) Each nomination paper shall state the names (the surname being stated first) and the address and occupation (if any) of the candidate.

(5) A candidate may include in the nomination paper the name of the political party registered in the Register of Political Parties as a party organised to contest a local election of which he or she is a candidate, provided that, at the time the nomination paper is delivered to the returning officer, a certificate in the form specified in Part II of the Schedule (in these Regulations referred to as a ‘certificate of political affiliation’) authenticating the candidature is produced to the returning officer, being a certificate signed by the officer or officers of such party whose name or names appear in the said Register pursuant to section 25(7)(d) of the Act of 1992. Where such a certificate is produced, the returning officer, provided he or she is satisfied that it is appropriate to do so in relation to the candidate, shall cause—

(a) a statement of the name of the relevant political party and a copy of the political party’s emblem as registered in the said Register to be specified in relation to the candidate on all the ballot papers, and

(b) a statement of the name of the relevant political party to be specified in relation to the candidate on notices.

(6) Where a candidate is not the candidate of a political party registered in the Register of Political Parties as a party organised to contest a local election the candidate shall be entitled to enter after his or her name on the nomination paper the expression ‘Non-Party’ and, if the candidate does so, the returning officer shall cause a statement of that expression to be specified in relation to the candidate on all the ballot papers and on notices.

(7) In the case of a candidate whose candidature is not authenticated by a certificate of political affiliation under sub-article (5), one or other of the following paragraphs shall, before the expiration of the time appointed by these Regulations for receiving nominations, be complied with:

(a) the candidate’s nomination shall have been assented to by 15 persons (excluding the candidate and any proposer) who are electors in the local electoral area (each of whom in this Part is referred to as an ‘assentor’);

(b) the candidate, or someone on his or her behalf, shall have made a deposit in accordance with article 15.

(8) The following provisions apply in respect of the assents required by sub-article (7)(a) to the nomination of a candidate referred to in that sub-article:

(a) to assent to the nomination, an assentor shall make a statutory declaration in the form directed by the Minister stating the following:

(i) his or her number (including polling district letters) on the register of local government electors in force on the date of the making of the statutory declaration;

(ii) his or her place of ordinary residence in respect of which he or she is registered in the register of local government electors referred to in sub-paragraph (i);

(iii) his or her contact details, including telephone numbers (if any);

(iv) the name of the local electoral area, on the date of the making of the statutory declaration, in which he or she is ordinarily resident;

(v) the name and address of the candidate;

(vi) the form of identification produced by him or her in accordance with paragraph (b), including any number on it that distinguishes it from similar forms held by others;

(vii) that he or she assents to the nomination of the candidate;

(viii) that he or she has not assented to the nomination of any other candidate in respect of that election;

(b) when making the statutory declaration referred to in paragraph (a), the assentor shall produce to the person taking and receiving the declaration a specified photographic identification in accordance with sub-article (9)(b) and shall, on so doing, be deemed, for the purposes of the Statutory Declarations Act 1938, to be personally known to the person taking and receiving the declaration;

(c) the assent shall have effect as respects, and only as respects, the local electoral area in which the place referred to in paragraph (a)(ii) is situate at the time of the election concerned;

(d) subject to paragraph (e), the assent shall have effect as respects, and only as respects, the election in the local electoral area referred to in paragraph (c) held next after the making of the statutory declaration;

(e) notwithstanding paragraph (d), the assent shall cease to have effect if the register of local government electors referred to in paragraph (a) ceases to be in force before the holding of the election referred to in paragraph (d);

(f) the candidate or proposer shall attach the required number of statutory declarations (that is to say, the 15 statutory declarations constituting the assents) to the nomination paper and the nomination paper delivered to the returning officer in accordance with article 18 shall have the declarations so attached;

(g) where more than the required number of statutory declarations is attached to the nomination paper, the declarations (up to the required number) first attached to the nomination paper shall be taken into account to the exclusion of any others;

(h) it shall be lawful for a member of the Garda Síochána or an official of the registration authority to take and receive a statutory declaration referred to in paragraph (a) and any such declaration shall be stamped by the member or official concerned;

(i) a registration authority and a returning officer shall arrange for the provision of forms for the purposes of making a statutory declaration referred to in paragraph (a) free of charge to any person who requests such a form.

(9) For the purposes of sub-articles (7)(a) and (8)—

(a) a person whose application to have his or her name entered in the supplement to the register of local government electors is approved by the registration authority at or before the latest time for delivery of a nomination paper to the returning officer shall be deemed to be an elector in the applicable local electoral area, and

(b) any type of photographic identification that for the time being is prescribed under section 3 of the Act of 1992 for the purposes of section 46(6)(b) of that Act is considered to be ‘specified photographic identification’ as referred to in sub-article (8)(b).

(10) The returning officer shall provide nomination papers during the usual office hours of the local authority, at such place or places as are named in the notice of election, on each day on which the offices of the local authority are open for public business, during the period beginning on the publication of that notice and ending at 12 noon on the latest day for receiving nominations and the returning officer shall supply a nomination paper or papers free of charge to any person applying therefor, but the use of a paper supplied by the returning officer pursuant to this article shall not be obligatory at an election, provided that the nomination paper used at the election is in the form directed by the Minister in accordance with article 14(2).

(11) Every reference in this article to the Register of Political Parties shall be construed as a reference to the copy of that Register sent to the returning officer pursuant to article 12.

Deposit by certain candidates.

15.— (1) This article applies to a candidate referred to in article 14(7) unless the candidate concerned has opted to have his or her nomination assented to by the means specified in article 14(7)(a) and 14(8).

(2) A candidate at an election referred to in article 14(7), or someone on his or her behalf, may, before the expiration of the time appointed by these Regulations for receiving nominations, deposit with the returning officer in respect of each local electoral area for which the candidate is nominated the appropriate sum specified in sub-article (3), and if the said sum is not deposited in respect of any such local electoral area, the candidature of the candidate for that local electoral area shall be deemed to have been withdrawn.

(3) The amount of the deposit shall be €100 in the case of an election of members of a county or city council and €50 in the case of any other election.

(4) The deposit that may be made by or on behalf of a candidate pursuant to this article may be made by means of legal tender or, with the consent of the returning officer, in any other manner.

Return or disposal of deposit.

16.— (1) The deposit made by or on behalf of a candidate in respect of a local electoral area shall be returned where the candidate—

(a) withdraws his or her candidature in accordance with article 22 in respect of the local electoral area,

(b) is deemed, under article 25(2) or article 28(1), to have withdrawn his or her candidature in respect of the local electoral area,

(c) dies before the poll is closed,

(d) has not, before the expiration of the time for the receipt of nominations, been validly nominated as a candidate for the local electoral area,

(e) is elected, or

(f) is not elected but the greatest number of votes credited to him or her at any stage of the counting of the votes in respect of the local electoral area exceeds one quarter of the quota.

(2) Any deposit which is not returned under sub-article (1) shall be forfeited.

(3) Where a deposit is to be returned under sub-article (1) it shall be returned to the person by whom it was made, provided that a deposit made by a person who dies before the deposit is returned shall be returned to his or her personal representative.

(4) A deposit forfeited under this article shall be applied by the returning officer towards his or her expenses in conducting the election and shall be accounted for by the returning officer accordingly.

(5) In this article ‘personal representative’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 3 of the Succession Act 1965.

Times for receiving nominations.

17.— The earliest time for receiving nominations shall be 10 a.m. on the day (disregarding any excluded day) next following the latest day for the publication of the notice of election and the latest time for receiving nominations shall be 12 noon on the seventh day (disregarding any excluded day) next following the latest day for the publication of that notice.

Delivery of nomination papers.

18.— (1) Every nomination paper shall be delivered to the returning officer within the times specified in article 17, by the candidate or the proposer of the candidate.

(2) The delivery of the nomination paper shall be made by the candidate in person except that, where the candidate is proposed by another person, it may be made either as aforesaid or by the proposer in person.

(3) The returning officer shall attend to receive nominations at the place specified in that behalf in the notice of election between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 noon and between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the day (disregarding any excluded day) before the latest day for receiving nominations and between the hours of 10 a.m. and 12 noon on such latest day.

Selection of nomination papers.

19.— The returning officer shall number the nomination papers in the order in which they are received and the first valid nomination paper received by the returning officer nominating a candidate for election for a local electoral area shall be deemed to be the nomination of that candidate for that local electoral area.

Ruling on validity of nomination papers.

20.— (1) (a) The returning officer shall rule on the validity of each nomination paper within one hour after its delivery and may rule that it is invalid if, but only if, the returning officer considers that the paper is not properly made out or signed.

(b) Without prejudice to paragraph (a), the returning officer may also rule that the nomination paper of a candidate referred to in article 14(7)(a) is invalid if he or she considers that the provisions of sub-articles (7)(a) and (8) of article 14 have not been complied with.

(c) The returning officer shall not rule that a nomination paper is invalid because an assentor has assented to the nomination of more than one candidate at the same election.

(2) The candidate nominated by each nomination paper and the candidate’s proposer, if any, and one other person designated by the candidate or proposer, as the case may be, and no other person, except with the permission of the returning officer, shall be entitled to attend while the said nomination paper is being ruled upon by the returning officer.

(3) The returning officer shall object to the name of a candidate in a nomination paper if such name—

(a) is not a name by which the candidate is commonly known,

(b) is misleading and likely to cause confusion,

(c) is unduly long, or

(d) contains a political reference,

and where the returning officer so objects, he or she shall allow the candidate or proposer, as may be appropriate, to amend the name and, if it is not so amended to the returning officer's satisfaction, the returning officer may amend it, as he or she thinks fit, after consultation with the candidate or proposer, if either is present, or may rule that the nomination paper is invalid as not being properly made out.

(4) The returning officer shall object to the description of a candidate in a nomination paper which is, in the opinion of the returning officer, incorrect, insufficient to identify the candidate or unnecessarily long or which contains a political reference other than, where appropriate, a reference to a public or elected office held, or formerly held, by the candidate or an entry made pursuant to sub-article (5) or (6) of article 14. Where the returning officer so objects, he or she shall allow the candidate or proposer, as may be appropriate, to amend the description and, if it is not so amended to the returning officer's satisfaction, the returning officer may amend or delete it, as he or she thinks fit, after consultation with the candidate or proposer, if either is present, or may rule that the nomination paper is invalid as not being properly made out.

(5) Having ruled on the validity of a nomination paper, the returning officer shall note the decision on the nomination paper and shall sign the note. If the returning officer rules that the paper is invalid, the officer shall include a statement of the reasons for the decision. The decision of the returning officer under this article shall be final subject only to reversal on a petition questioning the election.

(6) As soon as practicable after ruling on the validity of a nomination paper, the returning officer shall give, by post or otherwise, notice in writing of the ruling to the candidate.

(7) Every person in respect of whom a nomination paper has, under this article, been determined to be valid and whose candidature is not withdrawn in accordance with article 22 or is not deemed under article 15(2), 25(2) or 28(1) to have been withdrawn shall stand validly nominated as a candidate.”.