Trevor Sargent (Dublin North, Green Party)

I wish to take up a point raised by Deputy Rabbitte regarding the body of legislation in the Taoiseach's Department. With regard to possible legislation that might arise from the Central Statistics Office, which is under his remit, and in light of the problems shown to exist with the electoral register, could the CSO take account of its national remit and reform the electoral register process? At the moment we have 20% more people over 18 on the electoral register than there are in the country. This suggests that the CSO might have a role and that the Taoiseach, who is politically in charge of that organisation, might be able to suggest a way forward.

On the issue of a referendum, the Taoiseach informed me previously that he is in negotiations with counterparts in Northern Ireland regarding legislation to cover people considered unsafe to work with children. I understand that the Taoiseach undertook this himself to ensure that the blockages were removed. Will he indicate whether those blockages have been removed and whether he is pushing forward?

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