Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know. I am not saying we should use that system. I am very glad the Ceann Comhairle mentioned that because electronic voting is not what I am talking about. I am talking about postal voting of some type. We should look at that.

Regarding by-elections, it is very interesting. I am conscious of the time. We definitely have to look at by-elections. It is an old-fashioned system that if one of us dies, there has to be a by-election. It is very costly on the electorate. We do not want to die but if the inevitable happens and we do die, there should be a panel system like the situation in Europe where we would save the electorate the expense of having to pay a high price at the time of our death.

With regard to increasing the number of Deputies, I appreciate that the commission has increased the number of Deputies but we have to look at the representation that goes on in other parts of the world, not just around Europe but everywhere in the world. Surely to God we are perfectly capable of representing more people than we do at present. That old-fashioned rule should be removed so we do not, for instance, have to put a second floor on this Chamber to cater for more seats and have an upper group of people here eventually. That is nonsensical. We should look at that.

This is the final and most important thing I have to say, in the half-minute I have left. I want to go back to 1999 and thank the people in the Killorglin electoral area who gave me the benefit of coming into politics in the first instance. I barely scraped my backside over the line by something like 90 votes. My father nearly had a heart attack and I think I did have one. At that time it was a case of barely getting in and having to prove yourself. Since then, I want to thank the people in that electoral area, then in south Kerry and then all over Kerry for ensuring I got to come here and stay here. I hope that the same will happen when next year comes. I will send the message out to them right now. I am asking in advance and hoping they will give me another chance.

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