Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

I would be interested to hear the Minister's view on that.

I also wish to raise the issue of voter education. It is difficult enough to get the general population to vote. Typically, almost four out of ten voters do not vote. I know we are trying to improve the electoral register so we will have to re-examine that voter turn-out figure again after the next election. Prisoners, in particular, come from disadvantaged backgrounds and a large number of them cannot read or write. They may also have medical and other problems. We need to educate more people across the board to vote in this regard. If we spent half or a quarter of the €50 million that was wasted on electronic voting machines in getting people out to vote, and in educating them in the process, we would get a far more effective return for our money.

The Bill also states that prisoners who are registering to vote need to establish that they were ordinarily resident in the State prior to their imprisonment to avail of the postal voting arrangements. Where does this leave EU nationals who have the right to vote in local and European elections, and non-EU nationals who have the right to vote in local elections? Are these groups to be included in the extension of voting rights? If not, we should discuss this matter on Committee Stage.

On a practical level, what arrangements does the Minister envisage around election time? Will there be an opportunity to canvass? Will there be public meetings in prisons? I can imagine how lively they would be. What access will prisoners have to the media or the arrangements currently in place? I pose these questions because if we are going to extend voting rights we should ensure that people will have the opportunity to avail of them.

My colleague, Deputy Gay Mitchell, has been a strong voice on the need for prison reform. In 2003, he observed that the response to criminal activity has been to promise more laws. He went on to say that we have passed 40 Criminal Justice Acts since 1973. If all this law was put before the Dáil in one Act or in four or five Acts, alarm bells would have rung and we would have questioned whether all this legislation was needed.

Prison reform is a difficult area and, as Deputy Gay Mitchell has pointed out, politicians are fearful of raising the issue lest they come across as being unsympathetic towards victims or soft on crime. Recidivism is high, however, and many of those who go to prison have few skills, while a significant number have mental and other illnesses.

Prisoners are, by definition, deprived of their liberty but to deprive them of the right to vote as well is to dehumanise them. Fine Gael believes in rights and responsibilities and to deny prisoners votes releases them of responsibility. If prisoners are to take responsibility for their actions they should be encouraged to feel that they are still part of society and can be rehabilitated. To punish an individual for a criminal offence should not mean that person is also automatically deprived of other rights.

It is the view of my party that giving votes to prisoners would not only acknowledge their rights but would also underline their responsibility for themselves and to society. Furthermore, it might encourage politicians to take a greater interest in penal reform and to invest greater effort in considering why 75% of Dublin's criminals come from five identifiable areas.

If we give people an opportunity to be rehabilitated while in prison, if we require prisoners to confront their own role in society and make a contribution by way of fulfilling a civic duty — that is, the duty to vote — we will have a better chance of changing prisoners' views of themselves and their role in society.

There are without doubt victims of crime who will be offended by this Bill. However, the objective is not to be soft on crime or the criminal but to examine how best we can change their behaviour once they have served their time. If we can head off the causes of crime, we will be better able to rehabilitate and reintegrate prisoners into society. This in turn should reduce crime. Locking prisoners away in poorly-equipped prisons — social dustbins as it were — is not a contribution to solving crime. As Deputy Gay Mitchell has said, it is little more than a way of recycling prisoners in a subculture which is excluded from the mainstream of society.

This Bill has important implications for our electoral system and I would like to put on the record that Fine Gael has further proposals in this area. One such proposal is to allow for automatic voter registration upon reaching one's 18th birthday. The simple solution to the difficulties we are currently having with regard to the electoral register is to place people automatically on the register when they reach the age of 18 years. This could be done quite simply by employing the PPS number currently used by the Department of Social and Family Affairs. Every person already has a PPS number, so when someone reaches the voting age, the Department of Social and Family Affairs could automatically inform the relevant local authority. Such a system would efficiently eliminate much of the confusion that currently reigns. In addition, the exclusion of 18 to 21 year olds from standing for election to Dáil Éireann makes no sense. In time this matter will have to be sorted out.

I have already referred to the debacle of electronic voting, an episode which has cast the entire political and electoral process in a bad light. Taxpayers are paying exorbitant rates for the storage of unused electronic voting machines thanks to a complete lack of direction from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and its Ministers. On foot of a parliamentary question tabled by Deputy Paul McGrath, it was revealed that the State is paying widely different annual rates for storing these machines. The costs range from nothing in Sligo to €1.62 per machine in Louth, which I think is very good, and an incredible €271 per machine in Waterford. That shows just how out of control the situation has become.

The Bill is progressive and timely. It has been based on a decision of the European Court and will make a real difference to the campaign for prison reform. I wish it a speedy passage through the Oireachtas.

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