Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It was an association of the environment committee and another committee where we were involved in a report. Along with the need to deal with the register, a difficulty we identified was that we must recognise in the case of Ireland there is such a large number recently of this origin who are living abroad. For example, if this were to apply in Australia or New Zealand, how would one organise that and to what extent do those emigrants have access?

The voters' register should be held by the post office in this country for a start. The post office staff are the only group who have access to every house, flat and apartment, including gated residences, in the country on a daily basis if they wish. Nobody else has such access.

On the flaws in the PPSN system, one can have an address anywhere under that system. One could be anywhere. It does not prove anything. It does not prove one's entitlement to vote in one area or another, or in one constituency or another, or it does not disprove one's right to vote in two constituencies.

The final point I want to make is that I do not believe this can be done without including some of the wider diaspora in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. It would be unfair to exclude those who left this country in the past five years, for example, and went to Australia, Canada or elsewhere.

On electronic voting, it is out as an option. I would not support that under any circumstances.