Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I have one final question relating to expenditure on elections, although this may not be within Mr. McCarthy's ambit in general. Something brought to my attention on a regular basis, particularly in the lead-up to elections, is that one of the significant costs is the employment and engagement of polling staff. We are told consistently by returning officers that the filling of positions is an open process and positions are advertised. However, it seems to me that hundreds of people are consistently successful in terms of achieving those positions. Generally speaking, these are people who work in the public or Civil Service. This creates some issues. In response to parliamentary questions over the past few years, the Minister has stated that his preference would be that people out of work would be considered for the positions of poll clerk, counting staff and so on. How open is the process?