Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I am open to the idea of a commission but people are concerned that it will just be another quango. How would such an entity impact on current council staff? We do not, for example, want people to lose their jobs. Neither do we want to see the maintenance of the electoral register or other electoral commission functions being privatised. I would baulk at the idea that judges must automatically preside over every commission. Why should that be the case? There are capable and competent people who are not judges. In fact, one could argue that many judges are not necessarily automatically competent and capable. I just do not understand why - no offence - it must be a male judge or academic who runs these things. The staff complement attaching to the commission should be small.

The people who should be involved in the electoral commission are the members of the four largest sectors that are currently outside the system. The first such group is migrants. Some 23% of the people who live in my constituency of Dublin West were born outside Ireland. Most of these individuals are completely disenfranchised. They live, work and pay taxes here and they have their children here. Many of them might be citizens but they do not realise that they are entitled to a full vote because they have never been informed of that fact. The remainder are not citizens but they should also be entitled to the vote, particularly if they have lived and worked here for five years or more. Many of those felt excluded because they could not vote in the recent referendums. Such people should be involved in any discussion on this matter.

How will these people be integrated into the political process they are currently excluded from?

The second group I have huge concerns about is renters. Every time people change address in this country, they have to go to the Garda station, fill a form, which they have either downloaded or gotten from the council and then queue in the station, which could take any length of time. I bore witness to this last year when I stood in a by-election. Why is this the case? The number of renters has increased by 52% in 18 months in the State, according to the Irish Independentrent report, published yesterday. A total of 700,000 people are renting. How can we have an accurate electoral register with that number renting and when we make it difficult for people? I agree it is insane the lengths people are put to to go on the register or to take part in the voting process.

Young people are another issue. As we witnessed during the recent referendum, they will vote when they feel there is something worth voting for. Young people played a critical role in the passing of the referendum, as did working class people, who do not normally vote. There was a higher turnout in working class areas and among women. Those where the people who were concerned about the issue based on my own canvassing. I favour the lowering of the age to vote but why do we make it difficult for young people to get on the register. Surely, when they do their leaving certificate examinations, there should be a table in the room where they can register to vote because they generally will be aged 18 at that point. These initiatives need to be considered and they are not being brought forward currently.

Finally, there is a debate to be had about people who have been exiled from the country, mostly for economic reasons, although some have left for social reasons and by choice. However, much of our recent emigration was forced and, therefore, there is a debate about whether voting should be opened up to them. I am more concerned about people who live and work here having a vote. I live in a constituency which is new, diverse, etc., and many people are being excluded. They contact me with housing, homelessness or rent problems but they have no vote and Deputies do not care about them. Councillors might care because they might have a local election vote but there seems to be no concern about our new population having a vote. We have mostly focused on the register but I agree other reforms need to be examined to make it easier for people to cast their vote.

I am not necessarily a fan of postal voting. I was recently in America, which uses a different electoral system, the primary system, and people have a postal vote, which must be submitted within a two-week period in this particular state. It is difficult to get people to vote. At least when a vote is held on one day, one can pull out the stops. I am open to postal voting. It is amazing that when people go on holiday, they automatically lose the right to vote. It was booked well in advance of the election being called, for example, or for work reasons and we have all experienced that.