Information is the lifeblood of democracy. The more open and transparent a society becomes, the better. That is why our politicians adopted the Freedom of Information Act and removed the more offensive sections the Official Secrets Act. Given that gradual liberalisation of the law, it is all the more regrettable that the Government should now seek to ban the publication of opinion polls within a week of an election or a referendum. Such an approach would deny citizens vital information that could assist them in terms of strategic voting and may well be unconstitutional.
The manner in which this policy change is being rushed through the Oireachtas, without any public debate or consultation, is disgraceful. Last Thursday, a proposal for a week-long ban in the name of Fine Gael's Ms Olivia Mitchell was accepted with alacrity by Minister of State, Mr Bobby Molloy, at the Committee Stage of the Electoral Amendment Bill, 2000, and supported by Mr Eamon Gilmore of the Labour Party. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, subsequently advocated a ten-day moratorium and the Labour Party leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, repositioned his party when he objected to any ban.
Last night, a spokesman for the Government said it would now proceed on the basis of the Fine Gael amendment and institute a seven-day ban on the publication of opinion polls. This action was being taken, he said, because the Cabinet believed the public should be given time to reflect in advance of an election and to preserve the integrity of the ballot process. He was unable to say whether the Attorney General, Mr McDowell, had advised that the ban would be in keeping with the Constitution.
Newspapers, radio and television make considerable use of opinion polls in analysing and reporting on election campaigns. They have argued that consumers want them and consider them to be of interest and of value. Politicians, on the other hand, sometimes have difficulty in explaining away adverse and embarrassing findings. And, when the outcome of an election campaign is not to their liking, there is a tendency to shoot the messenger. It is, perhaps, the very accuracy of the polls that is the problem and the fact that they can no longer be dismissed as irrelevant. But it cannot be repeated too often that polls can only offer a "snapshot" of public opinion at a given moment. And public sentiment can change within a matter of days.