Mr. Barry Ryan:

One of the initiatives proposed in the modernisation project is the idea of a rolling register. That would cut through many of the issues discussed here and there would be no need at that stage for any supplements to the register if it was being continually updated. People could register up to a particular point in time before polling day, and this could be quite close to polling day. Clearly there would need to be some gap to allow polling cards to issue and so on. By doing away with the supplement, it would do away with the issue of asking people to go to a Garda station and so on. It is a key initiative.

The Senator mentioned the timeline of cleaning up the register before the local elections. It is important to clarify the legal status. The register is compiled annually and the process starts the summer before a register is published in the following February. November is the time of publication of the draft register, with people being able to examine it to ensure they are on it, make claims and so on. Between the end of November and the beginning of February, local authorities tidy up the register before it is published on 1 February each year. It becomes effective on 14 February. That is cast in stone. There is no question of removing or adding anybody to the register for the next 12 months. There is scope in the compilation of the supplement to the register in the run-in to polling day. That is where we are now in terms of local and European elections. The compiling of the supplement is the issue and the register will be published in a couple of weeks.

Ms Quinn mentioned that door-to-door canvassing happens and some local authorities are more active than others in this space. In fairness, local authorities indicate the process has become a more complex operation and, for example, access to gated communities and so on is not as straightforward as it used to be. The door-to-door canvass has its limitations compared with many years ago. This is why one of the initiatives with online registration is to make it easier for people to register. Whether it is a personal public service number or not, a unique identifier would address the issues being aired about excess on the register or people being on the register a number of times.

There is the point about people being taken off the register. Registration authorities should engage with people on a number of occasions before anybody is removed. Local authorities should be able to demonstrate a paper trail and efforts to engage. This includes knocking on somebody's door to clarify who is in a house and writing to a person. A person might not engage and may not have been in if somebody called to the door, and people may not engage with correspondence, so such people may be taken off a register. Certainly there should be a paper trail in a local authority to demonstrate why somebody has been removed from the register. People should not be taken off the register for no reason or on an assumption. There should be evidence that somebody has passed away, moved on, or whatever the case might be.