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

People can engage and still do what they intended doing from the beginning. I was environment Minister for the 2011 election. It was well known that I would have preferred same-day polling, but returning officers had absolute discretion. Clearly I could not interfere because that was their legal right and, therefore, they had the discretion to make the call. To believe that we did not have engagement and discussions on the issue in previous elections with returning officers, especially in Galway, which is my constituency, and to say that there was not widespread demand, particularly on populous islands where large numbers of people are missing out on voting, would be to understate the situation. The ultimate decision rested with returning officers. I would be worried that, although the Department would engage, the returning officers would listen and ignore if the ultimate decision rested with them. That is not meant to disrespect them, but it is what the law says.