Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)

We need to make other changes. For example, the fact that a person is homeless should not mean that he or she does not have a say in how the country is run. Everybody should have a say and although people should be traceable, they should not have to be registered at a particular address. Some people do not have a vote not through their own fault, but through the fault of other people who make matters difficult for them. For example, it is made difficult for people to register by demanding they go to a Garda station to get their application stamped, as if applying to vote was a criminal offence. That is outrageous. People should be able to fill their forms and return them to the local authority, which should have the wherewithal to check them out. If people's PPS numbers were on the form, this would be easy.

It is crazy for the Minister to start his local government reform by saying that posters are litter, that it is a criminal offence to leave them up beyond seven days after an election and that a candidate can only spend so much on his campaign. This is clearly a Minister devoid of ideas who is looking for issues to raise in the public arena. It would be a better day's work if he reformed local government in a way that made it more productive and more accessible to the citizens it is supposed to serve.

The Minister must stop his Calvinist attitude towards politics. There is some joy in life. God knows, if politicians do not have a sense of humour and take some pleasure from their work, they should not be in politics.

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