Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations, particularly the members of the Association of Irish Local Government for their very comprehensive presentation on the role of local authorities. Ten years ago I was in a football dressing room. I was not playing, but a man who was boasted that he and his wife had spent the entire day in Northern Ireland and that he had voted 11 times. I took note of what he said but I did not pass any comment. The next local elections, in which I was involved, were held in June 2009. I decided to check on my friend who had spent the day voting in Northern Ireland. Lo and behold he was on the register six times at six different polling stations in the one county. Someone spoke about councillors having local knowledge. This actually happened to me. I asked the rate collector responsible for compiling the late additions to the register whether this was a small man or a big man with curly hair and it was the man. Two of the polling stations were across the road from each other. This is a problem and it must be identified. We must ensure it does not happen again. I believe it does happen. I will not go so far as to say it happens mainly in Border counties where people may have come from or gone to the North, but it does happen.

I suspect there were four or five people in the car that went north that day but I cannot guarantee it.

Let me draw attention to another issue involving local knowledge. The Chairman will be aware of it. People who had emigrated to England, the United States and other parts of the world were still on our local registers. I ensured that they were removed from them. They were on the register so that they could vote in an election if it was held when they were home for summer holidays, for example. If we do not keep our registers up to date, we cannot have an accurate reflection of the percentage return. How do we overcome the problems? There are people who have died but who are still on the register. In some instances, their voting cards may be used by somebody else. I feel strongly about this issue. There must be some way of identifying those who need to be removed from the register.

I took my wife with me for the day to the west of Ireland. When having lunch in a hotel, she asked me who knew we were there on that day and whom I had told we were going. I told her I had told nobody. My wife said she had asked the reception whether Terry Brennan had received a telephone call and was told that I had and that I had taken it. I had taken no call. However, I discovered there was another Terry Brennan in the hotel on the same day. We must ensure there is proper identification. It could be a PPS number. Councillor McVitty mentioned the concept of people having a PPS number from when they are born. This obviously does not apply to people born in Northern Ireland and living in the South, and vice versa. Could we have co-operation between North and South to ensure no problems arise? I believe what I have described has happened and will continue to happen if there is no proper identification system. If one is voting electronically and keys in a voting card number, such as 456, and that number is registered, one cannot or should not be able to go to another polling station and enter that number.

There are people who boasted to me that they have never voted and never will, yet they are still on the register. There should be some way of removing people from the register if they do not vote in two successive elections. I believe Councillor McVitty mentioned compulsory voting. It is a great idea. People are killing one another in foreign lands for the right to have a say. One should relinquish that responsibility if one does not exercise one's democratic right.