Mr. Joseph Burke:

The offence is to apply for the ballot paper. If he or she comes in and apply for a ballot paper under the name of somebody else, the presiding officer is entitled to ask a member of An Garda Síochána to arrest the individual. Alternatively, if personation agents are present in the polling station and they form the view that somebody has applied for a ballot paper in somebody else's name, they can ask that the person is arrested by the gardaí, provided they are prepared to swear a declaration that says that they have formed the view that the person is committing an personation offence. Obviously, they will ultimately be a witness in the prosecution.