Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know Dr. Weeks confined himself to voter education and research. I agree with him completely because I do not think there has ever been an election after which people have not asked me whether they voted correctly. The very fact that adults who have been voting all their lives are asking that question shows the need that is not being met. Youngsters who have gone through secondary school would have been taught a very mechanical type of voter education that does not go into the detail that is needed, but it is an ongoing process. It seems that we are outsourcing responsibility when it comes to more vulnerable groups.

For example, the Vincentian Partnership has worked with marginalised groups on voter education. That should be the responsibility of the State rather than a private matter. I agree the commission should have a formal remit in this area, which would perhaps include schools and ongoing research and education.

There is a fixation on counties in terms of identity. Sometimes it escapes us that counties did not exist prior to the 12th century and the last one was created in the 17th century. They are not uniquely Irish but we have come to identify with them, whether for electoral purposes or GAA matches. Are these identity issues present to the same degree in other jurisdictions or are Irish voters unique in assuming they will lose out if they do not have a Deputy from their county? The urban living project carried out by Maynooth University produced some useful work on identity which suggested that it happened at a much lower level. It may be the case, therefore, that we are overstating identity as an issue.

In regard to data protection, we keep returning to the electoral register. This is an important issue for the electoral commission and I expect it will be the first item on its agenda. It is important that data protection is put at the centre of the register rather than on the periphery as an issue to be addressed. We have run into all sorts of problems with data protection, not least of which was Irish Water's use of PPS numbers. We recently introduced amending legislation to overcome a difficulty that had arisen with data protection and post codes. The current register is a public document and I do not doubt it is being used for marketing purposes because data have become a commodity. How can data protection issues be overcome for a public document? I agree that PPS numbers should not be included in public documents. How do other jurisdictions deal with data protection issues or prevent the use of registers as commodities for marketing purposes? Are there good ideas in other countries that we might consider?