Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I had another meeting with some colleagues which has just finished. I thank the witnesses for the presentations and written submissions. My questions are to all of the witnesses. We will probably come back to these with other people. They should feel free to give their answers and come back at a later stage.

Two key elements of the legislation are how we ensure the Act and subsequent reform of the register and electoral commission maximise voter participation and, therefore, fix the problems in registration, in particular for people who, as Mr. Joyce said, have been traditionally excluded from the system.

Outside of marriage equality and repeal, which saw huge youth registration, there are real difficulties in terms of voter registration for young people, especially those from low income backgrounds, as well as the new Irish and minority communities. Do any of the organisations have specific proposals they would like to see us insert into or add alongside the Bill on how to improve voter registration and electoral participation? I ask Mr. Joyce to continue where he finished, or if his colleagues have specific proposals for how we can facilitate nomadism and a formal registration that allows Travellers to vote.

The powers we give the commission are important because this Bill is not going to fix everything. If there are things that we do not think can be fixed in the Bill, the commission could, if we gave it the necessary powers, keep improving and refining the process, almost on a rolling basis.

Have Ms Lane, Mr. Doorley and others thought about whether the powers to be given the commission are sufficient or should other elements be included to allow it to keep up with work on the register and the electoral process?