Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

With respect, the Minister is winging it. I know what the problems are, but what will the Government do to address them? There is no point telling the House that in the old days, there was no supplementary register. The Minister is certainly referring to the old days because there has been a supplementary register for as long as I can remember. There is no point telling people in many parts of the country that they must go to their local Garda stations because the stations in many villages have been closed and urban voters will not queue at Garda stations to check their names or be put on the supplementary register.

Like every Deputy, I have received dozens of telephone calls, e-mails and so on concerning this matter. This morning, one of my colleagues in the House contacted me to say that he has been removed from the register. We have been given all kinds of explanations as to why people who take their voting responsibilities seriously have been removed.

See this speech in context