Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I appreciate that. However, it took the UK case to move the issue forward here, where the issue was already live and many bodies had been seeking this change for some time. I compliment the Irish Penal Reform Trust on its initiative in lobbying and pushing the issue forward. Without its good work our views of the need to reform the Irish penal system would not be so well advanced.

I worry about the detail of how the franchise will be exercised. I repeat many of the concerns raised by Deputy Gilmore which have been communicated to us by Rick Lyons of the Irish Penal Reform Trust. Mr. Lyons clearly states that in its current form the Bill would not have the desired effect of enfranchising the greatest number of Irish citizens in upcoming elections and does not take into account the specific institutional obstacles faced by prisoners. On Committee Stage the Minister can address the issues concerning place of residence, the documentation necessary to be included on the list and the other details that will ensure that an adequate number of prisoners exercise their democratic right to vote.

On the mechanics of the process, I worry about the confined system of prisons. Given the extent of video surveillance in prisons, it is important that prisoners feel they are exercising their franchise in complete secrecy. Some memorandum should be extended to the Irish Prison Service to ensure that this is the case. We need ongoing monitoring of how exercising the franchise works out in practice. For instance can we ensure that prisoners incarcerated in one prison will receive election literature from the candidates running in the Dáil constituency in which they are registered? In some areas where people have voted at a remove from their local polling station they find that while literature is available it is in a heap on the floor and the onus is on them to sort out what election literature is relevant to them. That matter needs to be resolved in the detail of the Bill.

Allowing the franchise to be exercised is just one small step in facing up to the appalling vista of staff shortages, cutbacks and deplorable conditions in our prisons. I hope that in addressing this issue, which comes under the remit of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, attention will be drawn to the problems of recidivism, overcrowding, lack of education and training programmes, and lack of psychiatric facilities in the Irish Prison Service. The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has used the prison population as the fall guy in an ideological battle between him and the prison officers on overtime reduction. However, the most vulnerable should not suffer from that ideological debate.

It is important to safeguard the rights of the most wretched in our society. The Government should reinstate programmes, such as CONNECT, which have never been afforded the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of prisoners. The Government must also invest in training and education programmes for prisoners, particularly for young offenders, who deserve the opportunity to equip themselves for life outside prison.

I note in passing my concern about the closure of Shanganagh Prison, which provided decent facilities for juvenile offenders. As well as having purpose built extensions and an attached farm, the prison was located close to public transport routes. What better place to provide decent programmes for young offenders? Unfortunately, the facility was lost in the rush by Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to build a super-prison in north County Dublin.

I cannot allow this debate to pass without commenting on the events which transpired this morning in the Netherlands. I have not yet had the opportunity to find out what was revealed in the press conference at which the deficiencies in that country's electronic voting system were demonstrated. I am concerned that a single master key could be used to open every electronic voting machine in the country and that the technical information relied upon by the Dutch hackers came from an Irish report on electronic voting. While I would not describe myself as a Luddite and I believe in using electronic tools where they are the most efficient option, electronic voting should not be pursued unless a verifiable voter audit trail can be produced. There is little sign of such a trail at present. The best advice I can give the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government is that he should take advantage of the recent reduction in waste electrical and electronic equipment charges to recycle the electronic voting machines.

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