Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman. I confirm I am in a very cold Leinster House today. I will perhaps follow on from some of what Senator Cummins mentioned. I totally agree with what he said about the cleaning up of our register of electors. It is critical it is done in a sensitive as well as an efficient way. With my background coming from private sector employment, it frustrates me no end that we do not have a streamlined database we can manage for all our services.

That really came into its own this year during the stay-and-spend initiative, which we had to do through the Revenue Commissioners because it had to be a tax-back process. We did not have any easily identifiable, user-friendly database we could use to target all of our citizens who were aged over 18. That, to me, is incredibly frustrating. If, therefore, we can in any way use this Bill to help clean up our act in that regard, it would be a definite positive. I quite like what Senator Cummins said about the linkage with a person's PPSN. If that is going to be a person's footprint from a Government and State perspective in Ireland then it makes sense.

I agree also with an awful lot of what the witnesses said in their presentations, for which I thank them. They have been insightful. I agree, in particular, with the need to future-proof this Bill. In response to some of our contributors today, Dr. Reidy has given some interesting ideas on how we can potentially do that. I understand well the concerns around the political advertising element of things. Our next pre-legislative scrutiny session will probably focus quite heavily on the advertising element. I understand we are bringing representatives from some of the social media platforms before the committee. It will certainly be interesting to hear what they have to say on this. I do not want this to be case of self-regulation, however. I do not believe that is the right way to deal with it. I have, therefore, certainly taken on board what Dr. Reidy said in that regard. She raised a valid point on the referendum advertisements. I would love for us to make sure the electoral commission has the authority, ability and expertise to be able to run information campaigns. It never ceases to amaze me how few people understand our single transferable vote system. We could certainly do with some information campaigns around that as well. I believe it was in 2019 that I stood in the by-election. It is awful that I cannot remember. We had a historically low turnout.

Information in advertisements encouraging people to vote and reminding them that election day is coming would have been helpful. Advertisements are really helpful for referenda.

Regarding representation on the commission, I appreciate Dr. Reidy's comment that we need to rethink why we are putting people there rather than just doing it because that is what we have always done in Ireland. One of the positives of living in Ireland but perhaps a constraint is the Constitution. New Zealand, for example, which has been cited a few time, does not have a constitution. Ireland, therefore, probably has a different perspective and that is why it is quite important that our commission should have members of the judicial system, judges, and clerks of both Houses of Parliament because they have useful experience and expertise in dealing with the Constitution.

If we were to give the electoral commission the power to run information campaigns, could it run an information campaign that encourages people to check whether their details are correct on the register of electors and if they are registered under one address? I am thinking of young people, in particularly, who may hop from rental accommodation to rental accommodation and who may also be registered at their parent's address and might not be aware of that. A campaign could encourage people to check the register before letters reminding them were sent and before we consider removing people from databases. This would put the onus on them to check the register and ensure they are on the register correctly and at the right address as there is so much duplication. Do the witnesses think a campaign would be effective?