Ms Petra Woods:

I thank the Deputy. Those are very good questions. I agree that the worst thing is for somebody to turn up at a polling station and find they are not the register when they should be. Over time, this has resulted in local authorities becoming quite risk averse in removing people. When they cannot be certain of an individual’s identity they are very careful about removing them. This is to ensure people are not inadvertently disenfranchised. People may have similar names or the same name and they may live at similar addresses or the same address and so on.

What we have provided for in the Electoral Reform Act 2022 is a number of more flexible arrangements. First among them is rolling registration. That allows these updates to take place on a rolling basis. People are not waiting for the campaign in November and a closed register until the supplement is in place. People are very busy. Previously, people had to queue at a Garda station to get their form signed in the run-up to an electoral event. That is a significant investment of time. By changing the way people can engage with the register through enabling online registration, we have made that much easier. People can now register online using their personal public service number, PPSN, name and address. In doing so, they can also provide information updates when they find themselves on the register.