Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There are one or two questions on which I would like to follow up. I will go back to the period from 2002 to 2007, when the witnesses got what they have described as some funding, although perhaps not all the funding they needed. Dr. Suiter clarified that the local elections in 2004 were covered as a result of that funding. Are the witnesses looking at a similar level of funding or do they need more to achieve what they want to achieve? Can that question be answered? What has their interaction with the Department been so far? How is that interaction going? We had the Department in here before but we would like to get the witnesses' own view in respect of that interaction.

A lot of the issues from my own point of view have already been raised. The register is a problem. Voter turnout is becoming a problem. There is a difference between a general election and a referendum. Referendums seem to get the young people engaged because they involve social issues to which they can relate. We seem to lose them for general elections. It is critical that we do more surveys in respect of the local elections and try to get a better understanding of that area. Young people can see direct effects in their communities through the work that local councillors do on the ground in respect of community stuff. I have been informed that there is a budget line in the Department of the Taoiseach in respect of referendums. Perhaps we, as a committee, could make a proposal that some funding from that budget line be set aside to carry out some research as a starting point. Could the witnesses provide a few quick observations on those points?