John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I commend Deputy Doyle on introducing this Bill, which I support. It is the first step in reforming how we run elections and I congratulate him on it.

I am of the view that a 15-hour working day is very long. While I tend to agree with the point Deputy Buttimer made regarding how we, as practising politicians, are used to dealing with presiding officers and clerks at polling stations at general elections, local elections, presidential elections, European elections and referendums, we must ensure that the hours during which polling stations remain open are uniform and standardised in order that people might have an expectation as to the period during which they might cast their votes. I agree with other speakers in the context of having a set day for polling. I have always supported the idea of polling at weekends. It may perhaps be the case that Friday is the best day for polling but in continental Europe elections often take place over two days, namely, Saturday and Sunday. The practice of holding elections on Tuesdays or Thursdays disenfranchises people and it should not continue.

I wholeheartedly support the commitment in the programme for Government in respect of establishing an electoral commission. The electoral register in my area - I am sure the position is the same elsewhere - is in pretty poor condition. The official turnout in recent elections was between 50% and 60% but I believe the real figure is much higher than that. The names of quite a number of people on electoral registers should not be because those individuals may be deceased or they may have moved. In addition, people's names are on registers in several locations. In the past, rate collectors who knew the streets in their parishes and neighbourhoods very well would ensure that the names of people who turned 18 were placed on the electoral register. That system worked very well. The current state of the register is a symptom of the way in which society has changed. It is often the case that we do not know our neighbours as well as we would have in the past. The position of local authority rate collector is now dormant and, as a result, electoral registers in many areas are no longer fit for purpose.

We often refer to the need for joined-up thinking in government. Everybody's official information is known by one or other arm of the State. It should not, therefore, be beyond the bounds of possibility that when a person turns 18 years of age, his or her name should be placed on the electoral register. I do not understand why that cannot happen. When people move location, obviously there is an onus on them to inform the authorities that they have done so. If individuals make the effort to place their names on the electoral register at their new location, they are often placed on a supplemental register. When the next election or referendum is held, upon arriving at their local polling stations they discover that their names are no longer on the register. Some of them may still be listed on the register in the areas in which they previously lived but, worst of all, others have discovered that they are not listed anywhere and, as a result, they do not have a vote at all. I have come across quite a few cases of this on recent polling days.

Deputy Terence Flanagan referred to extending postal voting. He is absolutely correct. As is often the case, a family may have booked a holiday months in advance and then a polling day, which clashes with their trip, is announced at only three or four weeks' notice. Through no real fault of their own, that family will be disenfranchised. It should not be beyond the bounds of possibility that people who are abroad, whether for work or a holiday, should be able to vote by post. I wish to recount an anecdote that is strange but true. The annual pilgrimage from the Diocese of Ossory to Lourdes clashed with the two most recent general elections. I have never taken part in this trip-----

See this speech in context