Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Cheann Comhairle agus leis an Teachta as ucht an deis seo a thabhairt dom dul ar an taifead faoin gceist seo.

Tá iontas orm faoin gcaoi a bhfuil an Teachta ag láimhseáil na ceiste seo. An tseachtain seo caite, ghlaoigh an Teachta ar an oifig eolais, agus d'iarr sé cóip de na rialacháin. Glaodh orm agus d'ordaigh mé ar an bpointe go dtabharfaí na rialacháin sin dó, mar is maith liom bheith oscailte sa méid atá le rá.

Chomh maith leis sin, má sheiceálann an Teachta, gheobhaidh sé amach cad a tharla, nó bhí mé sa Roinn sna Forbacha Dé hAoine. Tháinig oifigigh de chuid na Roinne chugam, agus tá súil agam nach bhfuil sé ag cur i leith oifigigh na Roinne go raibh siad ar aon bhealach ag gníomhú go polaitiúil. D'iarr siad orm an t-ordú a shíneáil mar rinne siad an cás go raibh daoine ag iarraidh go síneofaíé le go bhféadfaidís na fógraí a chur sna nuachtáin áitiúla. Ní raibh a fhios ag éinne i bhFianna Fáil cén uair a shíneofaíé, agus déanaim an iarraidh seo leis an Teachta. Bhí seisean ní ba mhó ar an eolas faoi chúrsaí vótanna poist ná mé féin. Go deimhin féin, mar a thuigfeadh sé féin, níl sé sna rialacháin.

At the outset, I wish to clarify that matters relating to the electoral register and supplements to the register do not fall under my remit as Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. I propose in my reply to outline the facts about the register of electors before moving on to outline my role in the Údarás na Gaeltachta election.

The register of electors is provided for under section 13 of the Electoral Act 1992 and forms part of the remit of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche. Specific responsibility for compilation and publication of the electoral register rests with local authorities. A new register is compiled each year, published in draft form on 1 November and made available for inspection at several places including the offices of a county councillor or county registrar, public libraries, post offices and Garda stations. Amendments to the register can be made until 25 November. An amended register is published in February of the following year. A person who is qualified to vote but has missed the deadline to include his or her name on the register can apply to be included in a supplement to the register. This will enable him or her to vote at any election or referendum held during the year provided the relevant application has been made at least 13 days, excluding Sundays and bank holidays, before polling day.

The Deputy referred in particular to the list of postal voters which, with the list of special voters, constitutes a supplement to the register of electors. While it is the norm during an election to vote in person at an official voting centre, a person may be eligible for a postal vote if, for example, he or she is a member of the Defence Forces, a member of the Garda or an Irish diplomat posted abroad or his or her spouse. Persons who suffer from a physical illness or disability or who are studying full time at an educational institution away from the home address at which they are registered to vote may also be eligible for inclusion on the list of postal voters.

Applications for inclusion on the electoral register, including the postal voters list, must be completed by 25 November each year. Application forms are readily available at county councils, corporations, post offices and public libraries nationally. The statutory deadline for giving effect to applications to have names entered in the supplement to the postal voters list is set out in section 15(a)(iv) of the Electoral Act 1992, as inserted by section 7(c) of the Electoral Amendment Act 2001. It states: "An application by an elector to have his name entered into the supplement to the postal voters list received by the registration authority on or after the third day after the dissolution of the Dáil at a general election or on or after the third day after the date of the making of the order appointing polling day at a Dáil by-election or a presidential, European or local election or an election to Údarás na Gaeltachta or a referendum shall not have effect in relation to that election or referendum."

Under section 28 of the Údarás na Gaeltachta Act 1979, as amended by section 1 of the Údarás na Gaeltachta (Amendment) Act 1999, elections to an tÚdarás shall be held as may be prescribed by regulations made by me as Minister. Section 31 of the 1979 Act sets out that persons are entitled to vote on the basis of qualifying to vote in a local election in a Gaeltacht constituency. The generality of Údarás regulations which I have prescribed follow the regulations agreed for the local election code. The rules pertaining to the register of electors, which are outside my remit, also apply.

I signed an tÓrdú um Údarás na Gaeltachta (An Lá Vótaíochta) 2005 last Friday, 25 February 2005. Applications to the registration authority to have names entered on the postal voters list therefore could be accepted until close of business on the following Monday, 28 February. The Údarás elections regulations require that statutory notice of 28 days be given of any election and in the case of the election announced for 2 April 2005, this means before Saturday, 4 March. To publish the statutory notice in the regional newspaper network it was necessary for me to sign sooner rather than later.

It was deemed important to reach the local media on this occasion in light of significant changes to the nomination procedures, namely, that the former system of deposits no longer applies but nominations must instead be supported by a certificate of political affiliation or assented to by 15 members of the relevant constituency. While the changes are significant in terms of the Údarás election, last run in 1999, they do not consist of anything new in terms of the existing local election code.

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