Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I might take a little bit more time given that some of my colleagues are not present. The focus of newspaper headlines has been on the number of additional people on the electoral register. In Kildare and other rapidly developing areas I suggest that there are gaps all over the place in terms of the number of people who have not yet put their names on the electoral register. It is only at election time that one becomes acutely aware of just how many people are in that category. In the past, rate collectors had a role in knocking on everybody's door but that is no longer the case. Nobody slots into that position in local authorities to do that work. As a result we simply do not have good electoral registers because we rely on people to respond to material that is sent to them, which does not work in all cases.

If one went out to find additional voters next week one would find not only additional voters but new housing estates. It is very difficult to keep on top of these developments given the rate of building. There is a change in housing tenure and an increase in the rented accommodation sector. This results in a more transient population. This is the case right across the country. It is not just a question of getting the register right now, we must accept the changes in society and respond to them by putting different systems in place. It is not atypical for me to find gaps in the register in the town in which I live, in housing estates that are up to ten years old. The register can go from house No. 1 to houses Nos. 5, 6 and 7 and on to house No. 20. Such gaps are par for the course. It is only when it comes to election time that this is noticed. Younger voters are not captured.

I listened to Deputy Mulcahy refer to taking people off the electoral register. I have been in polling stations, as I am sure have other Members, where voters have been taken off the electoral register. When they turn up looking for their vote having been on a prior electoral register, they are very difficult people for the staff in a polling station to deal with. It is a dangerous way to go about things because decisions become very arbitrary about who is or is not on the register. My name is a very common one which would be replicated a number of times around the constituency and I would take great offence if somebody took my name off the electoral register. This is a wrong way to go about it.

We need to get it right at the beginning but it also should be reviewed in the future, as should the use of information technology which is very important.

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