Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing with Deputy Michael Collins and possibly an Teachta Danny Healy-Rae if he arrives.

I too welcome this long-overdue electoral reform. In many areas the measures could be wider than what is proposed, but I understand that small steps are important. I pay tribute to the many people I have worked with over the years in the county councils, South Tipperary County Council and then North Tipperary County Council, who helped out, did a lot of work and updated the register. They were really in a void and a vacuum. They did not have the proper information a lot of the time but they did their best with the limited resources they had. The electoral register was, come election day, often in a bit of a mess. Whole streets were knocked off it and there was anguish and so on. I hope we can avoid that.

I see there is to be a rolling aspect to when 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds can get involved and get on the register, if they are interested in doing so. That is very important. We hear debates and clamours for people to get the vote at 16, but we should at least get them involved. I spoke to cara liom in the canteen just a few minutes ago. I had her daughter visit here previously. I worked with his parents some years ago. The daughter has just turned 18. I asked if she was registered. It should not be beyond possible nowadays and in this modern era - although when we see what happened in Dublin Airport at the weekend, one would have to be left bewildered - that people when they get their PPS numbers are automatically put on a register when they are ocht mbliana déag d'aois. They should be. Why do we have to be so archaic and so slow? I welcome the effective engagement with the 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds, but that should happen automatically.

Then there are the death certificates. It is awfully offensive to people to get post and to see many different issues with the electoral register when there is a death in the family. There should be some link-ins with the death certificates. This is 2022. I do not know why this is so far back and so outdated. As I said, however, we are making some progress, I hope.

Then there is electoral reform around donations and so on. Certainly, we had the wild west for decades, and we now have SIPO, which does a very good job. The vast majority of people are engaged with it and comply 99.9%, and rightly so. When they misbehave and do not do proper returns, they are dealt with severely.

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