Ruairí Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for coming in and out. I am trying to be in two places at once and I am not very good at it. This discussion breaks quite easily into two parts. Obviously, first of all it is about enfranchisement and then it is about that wider idea of political life. In fairness, a fair amount has already been thrown out like the obvious stuff about the certification payment and whatever. That is obvious. One is literally putting an added cost on somebody to actually engage in the process, which is just wrong.

It is about making sure we have a system that works and is fit for purpose, starting at the polling station, to a degree, and then in relation to how we facilitate people, depending on their disability. In fairness, Mr. O'Leary spoke about ensuring people are getting the correct information. We spoke previously in another committee about disinformation and whatever else. It is about making sure that whole piece is done. In real terms, we are nowhere next to near where we should be on postal votes and proxy votes in general. We are not facilitating a significant number of people anyway, be it people who are not in the State because they are on holidays or for whatever other reason, and the complex lives people have.

We must ensure we have a framework that works. The research piece is necessary, in particular post-electoral research or getting direct information. We must also ensure we get direct information from those who know, be it directly from individuals but also specifically from those organisations that we believe do very good advocacy work. It is about putting all of that into play. In fairness, one of the submissions we have is from Usher Syndrome Ireland about the very specific issue of people who are deaf and blind. It is very obvious that the accommodation they need is a hell of a lot more than many others. How do we ensure all this happens? Political parties have a bigger job to do, but we must also ensure there is funding and supports for individuals so they can engage. Sometimes, being involved in a political party involves meeting up and rapping on doors, putting leaflets through doors or attending a particular protest. That is going to knock out a significant number of people. When a party is looking for candidates for a local election, the easiest person to run generally is some young fellow who plays Gaelic football and is involved in 14 other things, meaning you could be starting with 300 or 400 votes on the basis of the candidate and his wider family. There are wider implications. We have a lot further to go to make this a level playing field. I am sorry it took me so long to get those questions across. I would be delighted and impressed if the witnesses could deal with them in about three and a half minutes.