Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. While I note with approval his reference to a cross-party approach to the matter, the fact is the Minister represents a Government which has wasted €50 million on electronic voting machines which do not work or in which we do not have confidence. The Government would have been far better off if it had decided to spend a much smaller sum of €3 million or €4 million per annum on a proper electoral register.

I welcome the highlighting by The Sunday Tribune of the appalling disgrace that over 300,000 people are on the register who do not have the right to vote. It is not good enough that people have been multiply registered. While we can talk forever in committees, cannot the Minister talk to county managers and the Revenue collectors who often do the work in question in local authorities and ask them why the register is a mess, what resources have been invested and what action is required? It is an action the Minister could take quickly.

Dedicated staff are required to visit voters. As the Minister rightly says, commuters are a significant problem as they leave home at 7 a.m. and do not return until 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. It is almost impossible to meet a commuter at his or her home, especially if he or she works in Dublin, as he or she is always travelling and is not home on weekends. Will the Minister engage proactively with county managers and those they have charged with the duty to compile the register to push the agenda forward? We will have them before the committee in the autumn. We would be better off to invest a great deal more money in a proper electoral register and encourage a great deal more people to vote. It does not matter if it takes two or three days to count their votes after an election. Let us encourage and enfranchise our citizens and ensure we get them out to vote.

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