Mr. John Dolan:

I am glad Mr. O'Leary mentioned Robbie Sinnott. He is a colleague of mine on the disability stakeholders group. I remember, when I was a Member of the Oireachtas, him coming in here to explain the process and the journey going through the legal process.

There is something here that goes beyond simply people with disabilities. In a democracy, if one is seen and people can see that a state is making efforts for people to vote, it is actually saying we value democracy. It is precious. It is important not to lose sight of that. Be it that elderly person, someone with a disability, or somebody with other situations or difficulties, the person can be seen and other members of the community can see that that is valued. That is important.

There are two fronts here that need to be dealt with. There is the act of voting and all the technicalities around that, whether it be braille, this or that or ramps but the question is how does one get - to use the analogy - the horse to water. How does one get somebody to want to go there? How does one get somebody thinking that is really important that he or she casts his or her vote and that he or she is an important person in that community. That is an area that we need to focus on more. Sometimes problems get solved, for instance, when somebody says that he or she wants to vote. People start making arrangements and doing all sorts of things to make it happen. That is the other side of this.

We are in a State where one can choose not to vote. It is not mandatory to vote. Nobody catches you by the scruff of the neck and brings you to the polling station. We need to work on that side. It is not easy, when one is talking about constituencies of people and it is not only disability, where they have been away from the mainstream of activity and where their life does not seem to be much different whether they participate or not. That is an element of it.

The other point I would make is that it is also important for Ireland's reputation internationally that we are seen to be strong. We have a reputation in terms of our peacekeeping and we can have a reputation in terms of the effort we put in to make sure that every eligible person can vote in this country. Dr. Mary-Clare O'Sullivan mentioned, but not by name, one of the vice presidents of the European Disability Forum, EDF.