Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and his officials to the committee to deal with this important matter. I believe the setting up of an independent commission is a great idea. Sinn Féin would certainly support it and has been calling for such a body for a long time. The Minister is right that this initiative is of such importance that it requires support across the political spectrum and that we need to build consensus. It is not in anybody's interest that any shoddy or outdated practices in regard to how we run elections or referenda continue. The independence of the body is important, but it must be seen to be independent. Therefore, how members are appointed to it is a crucial issue.

I am inclined to agree with the Minister in regard to the size of the body. The international research referred to shows that if a committee is too big and unwieldy, it does not work. At the same time, it is important to ensure a balance of the necessary level of expertise.

I have raised the issue of the register of electors many times, particularly with the Minister's predecessor. We have huge concerns about the register. We sought reform of the register in the North and at the time, the Establishment and media raised stories about impersonation and the like. The register was reformed and there is now a better system in place. This was great for Sinn Féin, because reform stopped impersonation by other parties and our share of the vote rose immediately in the following election. This was a good outcome for Sinn Féin, but also a good outcome for democracy. Currently, we have people register twice or thrice, which is not right. Other people are missing from the register. I know it is up to each citizen to ensure he or she is registered. The current register of electors will only work if all citizens over 18 are convinced they should be actively involved and should check the register every November to ensure they are on the draft register for the coming year. If they notice a duplication of their name on the register, they should notify the local authority. We must move away from the current approach.

In the past, I have suggested the use of PPS numbers for registration, but I am aware there are issues in that regard because there are more PPS numbers than people. The Minister's predecessor told me one day that we had close to 7 million PPS numbers, far in excess of the number of people living in the State. The huge number of PPS numbers can be accounted for by emigration, immigrants returning to their countries and various other reasons. We need to look at other models and to take a new approach.

Regardless of what we do about an electoral commission, the register of electors is something that has bugged me over the last number of years. I used to get very annoyed when people who have been on the register for a number of years and are getting on in years and who, when an election was called and they went to vote, found that they were not on the register for whatever reason, even though they had not moved house. I have seen people going through that experience. Tying it to an address does not work. We must tie it to the person. The entitlement to vote must be tied to every person when they reach the age of 18 years, and we must find a mechanism to do that. I am not convinced as to how we can do it at this point, but our party is open to finding a better way of doing it.

That brings me to the timeline. We must separate the different tasks. The register of electors is the most important issue to be addressed. It is very hard to get it right. Consider the fact that there are far fewer councillors now. Whether we like it or not, councillors played a role in ensuring that the register of electors was correct. That was particularly so with town councils, where there is a great deal of mobility with people moving about. Town councillors would make it their business to know who was registered in a street, or if somebody in the street was registered twice they would not be long in bringing it to the attention of the local authority officials. There were scandalous incidents. In a recent election, 28 people in one house were registered. There was terrible things like that happening.

This is of great importance. At best, I reckon the register is 80% accurate. That 80% accuracy must be seen in the context of court cases having been held over one vote. We have seen that. In my county, County Laois, there was a court case over one vote. It involved a Labour Party candidate and a Fine Gael candidate. I believe the Fine Gael candidate ended up with the vote and the late Larry Kavanagh lost out. That is too important to be left as it is. It is something we should have started working on last year.

With regard to the Seanad, the Government lost the referendum on its abolition. My party would have abolished it in its current form, but we want to have a reformed Seanad. Obviously, how people get there and what their task will be when they get there are of crucial importance, but how to get there is the big issue. The election system for the Seanad is archaic and must be dealt with. The panels bear no resemblance to the Ireland of today. I am not saying there should not be sectoral panels, as they serve a purpose, but we must examine the ones we have and how people are nominated onto them.

I will conclude on the boundaries and the boundary commission. Yes, they possibly could be amalgamated. The Minister's house is now in the Offaly constituency, or very near it. If not, the constituency is getting close to his back yard.