Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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I welcome everybody to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. We are meeting in public today to discuss electoral arrangements to protect democracy and ballot integrity. From the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, we are joined by Mr. Barry Ryan, principal officer in the franchise unit, and Ms Petra Woods, principal officer in the electoral registration modernisation project; from the Electoral Commission we are joined by Mr. Art O'Leary, chief executive, Dr. Mary-Clare O'Sullivan, head of electoral integrity and research, and Mr. Tim Carey, head of electoral operations. We are also joined by Mr. Joseph Burke, the Dublin city returning officer.

I welcome them all to the committee today and thank them for your assistance in this work. Members were circulated with copies of the opening statements in advance.

I invite our witnesses to make their opening statements, beginning with the Department, followed by the Electoral Commission and then the returning officer.