Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I commend Deputy Keaveney on introducing it. Independent voting rights are very important and the Deputy has set out a strong case in the Bill to assist people with sight difficulties. In general, we support the Bill. Clearly, much work has gone into preparing the legislation and it is obvious that those drafting the Bill consulted closely with people who have sight loss and put a great deal of consideration into it.

The technical aspects of the proposal are complex but presumably they are similar to systems which operate in other jurisdictions. While the object of the Bill is to facilitate independent voting, it is welcome that it preserves the right of visually impaired voters to be assisted to a certain extent by a companion. That is essential, as many people, particularly the elderly with visual impairment, would not have much experience of electronic equipment or computers.

I am somewhat confused as to the provision of tactile voting for referendums and in presidential elections but not in Dáil or local elections. Perhaps that is due to the greater complexity of such elections. Deputy Keaveney might elaborate on the point when he responds to the Bill.

I assume the provision of a computer will constitute the main technical assistance in elections, in addition to the existing right of the visually impaired and those with reading difficulties to have a companion with them to assist them in filling out the ballot paper. The proposals to allow greater time for people to be registered and then turn up at a polling centre are sensible.

The Minister of State spoke about access but there is still a problem with wheelchair access at polling stations. That should be examined again in respect of each centre to improve the access for people with mobility problems.

A raft of other changes are required to existing electoral legislation. We dealt with the issue of establishing an electoral commission at the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht this week. It is noticeable that there is general cross-party consensus on not only the need for such a body but that it would be established as soon as possible, preferably before the next election. We are realistic that everything cannot be transferred over too quickly but elements of the process could be transferred over. If we had an electoral commission, it could deal with many of the problems that arise in regard to registration, ballot papers and so on, and it would be the ideal place to deal with the proposals contained in this Bill. It would also be able to assess the technical aspects of the proposal and recommend what would need to be done in a relatively short space of time whereas leaving such matters to ad hoccommittees and various bodies set up from time to time means there is a delay in implementing necessary changes. Changes made in the past have not always been properly thought through before being put in place. We know that from the godforsaken e-voting machines, which incurred a large initial cost and a huge hang-over cost while we had them for many years. The ongoing confusion with regard to the layout of referendum ballots is another issue that could be dealt with by such a body.

I published a Bill in the recent past proposing the lowering of the voting age to 16. The Minister, Fine Gael and the Labour Party should not be afraid of 16 and 17 year olds voting. While the Government’s position is to lower the voting age to 17, it has not given an indication as to when it will implement it measure. Will it implement it prior to the next general election, as promised, or will it fall by the wayside, off the Fine Gael-the Labour Party bandwagon. I also proposed that, given the still large discrepancies regarding the register of electors, personal public service, PPS, numbers be used to automatically register a person on reaching the age of 18 or the age of voting, whatever we may determine that to be. I have heard various objections to, and questions about, this, but I am sure they could be ironed out and with their use, we would have less of a problem than we currently have given that there we have 200,000 more people on the register than are recorded in the census of population.

Registering people by PPS numbers could be verified by another independent verifier held by State bodies. It would also represent what would be a positive move away from a household registration system. It would reduce the risk of election fraud, which we all want to address. It would solve some of the problems linked to people changing address. It is not good enough to have one's registration tied to an address because people, particularly younger people, change jobs more frequently and they move to take up studies. People who have been living at the same address and have been on the register for years can go to their polling station and find they have removed from the register.

I met people from the Union of Students of Ireland this week and they have produced a good document on this subject, which I commend to the Minister of State. That document contains several valid points showing where improvements can be made. They are sensible proposals. They make the case for people being able to register online rather than go through the process of filling in forms and having to go to a Garda station and local government offices. Care would have to be taken to verify online registration but with the proper safeguards, it would increase the number of young people registering to vote. The outcome of the recent referendum showed that young people are interested in voting, contrary to what many people belief.

We still have not got around to finding time to discuss the fifth Constitutional Convention report on voting rights. On two occasions in the past few weeks, it has been put on the Dáil schedule and then taken off due to time constraints. I hope that time is found to discuss it as it deals with important issues in regard to Irish citizens outside of the State having the right to vote in Presidential and Seanad elections, for which there is broad support. Sinn Féin supports that right, especially given that Irish citizens living in the North have been candidates in the past and, hopefully, will be candidates in the future, for the office of Uachtarán na hÉireann. Several people, including the late former Senator Gordon Wilson and others from the North, have been appointed to the Seanad by various parties.

I wish to state my general support, and that of my party, for this Bill but I also call for the establishment of an electoral commission before the next general election. The Minister of State should not wait until after that. Such a body would be the most suitable way to deal a wide range of issues, including some of the issues arising in this Bill.

As the Minister of State is here this morning, I want to raise with him his abuse of the Dáil in stitching the water Bill as an amendment-----

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