Ms Petra Woods:

I thank the Deputy for those questions and comments. One of the key things we are doing in terms of promoting registration is making it easier for people to register. At present, changing address or details requires different forms at different times of year, and often a trip to a Garda station, and for people who are renting who move address more regularly, that is a significant burden in terms of the administration. We are simplifying that process and it will be a lot easier and a lot less onerous to do, and it will be the same all year round.

In terms of the data matching, we have tried to start with quite a limited approach. We have a significant amount of work to do. We are trying to ensure that we have identity data correct, that we have name, address, PPSN and dates of birth that match, so that we can identify each individual.

We have not made any steps towards getting information about child benefit or data from schools. Our public consultation showed that people were happy with data sharing but wanted some sort of limitations on it.

That is not to say that those innovations cannot be undertaken in the future or be the subject of further work. To be clear, there is no provision to do that at present. The schools programme is very much aimed at getting engagement from young people aged 16 and 17 in school before they leave. In general, people talk a lot about students falling off the register. In reality, however, students are usually quite well served by students' unions and so on. We have many people who do not go on to university who may not then fall into an area where people are actively engaging with them. That is one way of doing it. A key function here is to try to make it easier for people to register.