Fiona O'Malley (Dún Laoghaire, Progressive Democrats)

The Government has decided to go ahead with the referendum.

The question of participation is important. Democracies throughout the world are facing a diminution in the participation of people in the political process. We have already decided to hold the European and local elections on the same day because we are all worried that if the European elections were held on their own, voter turnout might be very low. In an attempt to ensure participation on a greater level the two elections will, in future, always be held on the same day. For that very reason it was decided to hold the referendum on 11 June. This was a wise decision because participation in the electoral process is most important. We are guaranteed a higher level of participation in the referendum if voters are also coming to the polls for another election.

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