Mr. Art O'Leary:

I accept that, and we learned from that experience. We have spoken with An Post about this. I have some sympathy for An Post because it is trying to send out 3.7 million polling cards in a short period of time. Some of them go missing, for whatever reason. Socks go missing in my washing machine and I cannot explain it. We need to do more to make sure everybody gets a polling card. Part of our communications message in the run-up to polling day will be that you do not need your polling card to vote. If you can, try to get your electoral number, but if you cannot, when you turn up at most polling stations, you can explain where you live or there will be a big sign outside saying that if you live on Main Street, Skibbereen, you are at polling station No. such-and-such. There is a lot of work to be done at a logistical level. The issue might be the misprinting of the ballot paper, which I hope is a one-off and will not be repeated. A lot of hard lessons were learned in that case. All of the returning officers pay particular attention to that.