Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for coming before the committee today. I reiterate Sinn Féin's strong support for the Bill. It makes eminent sense. As we all know from fighting elections, often an election is won or lost in the last two days of the campaign, whether as a result of the big public debates between party leaders or other issues. Therefore, denying islanders the right to participate in those crucial final days of the campaign is something we need to avoid. I am also less worried about the costs that would be involved. It would be great it we could do this in a way that would reduce costs or involve no additional costs, but giving islanders the right to participate in an election campaign right up to the end is far more important than adding what would ultimately be a very small additional cost to the electoral process. The proposal for an amendment to allow the delivery of the boxes later is a sensible one. If there are severe weather conditions in those very isolated cases, it would give a little more latitude in terms of the delivery of the boxes. For me, the proposed amendment would be more important for that reason than any consideration of the costs involved.

Is there anybody outside these Houses seriously arguing against this move at this stage, given the changes in technology, the improvements in transportation and the ability to predict weather forecasting over three or four days? Is there any opposition to this move at this stage? I cannot see from where it would come but I would be interested to hear the Deputy's view on that.