Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh na finnéithe. Is dóigh go bhfuil sé thar a bheith tábhachtach go ndéanfar mionscrúdú ar gach a bhfuil molta. I am delighted the witnesses are here today. It is a good opportunity to do what we have to do here as legislators, namely, examine in minute detail the implications of what is being proposed. I welcomed on Second Stage the fact that the then Minister was in favour of the basic principles in the Bill. When I spoke at the committee, I said there was a need for two amendments which are in line with what the Department has indicated now and what the Minister indicated on Second Stage. In other words, there was an oversight in relation to European and local elections. That is recognised. As the initial proposer of the Bill in the Dáil, I am not only agreeable but said I would bring amendments forward myself. However, if the Department has better amendments, I would always accede to the greater skill of the parliamentary counsel and the departmental officials in the drawing up of the technical amendment. The same point relates to getting the ballot boxes, which is eminently sensible, particularly from a cost point of view. Leaving bad weather out of it for a moment, if there was an 11 a.m. requirement for island boxes to be at a count centre-----