Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I will speak on amendment No. 47 now, which is that the commission would research how to make voting more accessible for people with disabilities within two years and report on that. This is a very important area. I think all of us are committed to looking at how we can make voting and voter participation more accessible for everyone, especially people with disabilities. For example, the National Council for the Blind of Ireland, NCBI, raised a number of issues with the Electoral Reform Bill in its submission, including, for example, how voting booths can be unsuitable in terms of inaccessibility. In terms of voter registration, it has called for an online system that is fully accessible and compliant with the EU web accessibility directive. It raised issues about lack of awareness around postal ballots and accessing polling stations due to lack of access to transport. It raised the issue of the need for additional research on the use of technology to assist people with disabilities in voter registration in terms of identity verification and ballot casting to make the process simpler and streamline it, especially for people who are blind and have vision impairment. This is an important area that needs to be researched. It should be a priority for the commission and it should come back within two years after having looked at this.