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

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I thank the Electoral Commission for the great work it did and for leaving County Kerry intact and not putting any part of it into any other county. I have a small regret that there are small bits of Rathmore and of Ballydesmond in Cork North-West. They are part of their respective parishes and perhaps they could have been put into the Kerry constituency, but the Blackwater divides them and we have to accept that. Nevertheless, people from those places come to me, as well as some from farther away. I am glad to say I can work for people who are not from Kerry. I have done so and will continue to work for people no matter where they come from. I am glad to be in a position to do that. Perhaps Deputy Michael Collins should not have Dursey Island in the Cork South-West constituency. It is in the Kenmare River and it is part of Kilmackillogue harbour. I believe Dursey Island should be in with the Kerry constituency.

I am an advocate of posters. We have to create some kind of atmosphere to get people interested in voting. At present we do not have posters in our towns and that is all right, but in the North of Ireland they are in the towns. It is part of our country, just above the Border and it is close to us.

The other matter that is important is the electoral register. We have to ensure people are registered to vote. When children reach the voting age of 18 or whatever it will be, if they are in a secondary school or college, they should be helped and encouraged by their teachers to register. I welcome the new system. In the past, we had only two windows of opportunity to put our names on the register. The first was coming up to an election and there were only so many days after the election was called that people could register. That created an awful uproar with An Garda Síochána having to sign and stamp papers. That is no longer required which is no loss. That is not a reflection on An Garda Síochána, but it was cumbersome. People were afraid to go to the Garda stations to do it. The other window was from October to November, which was too short. People need to be reminded that they can now register all year and can even do so online. We appreciate that.

The other gripe I have relates to housing. When the local authority allocates a house to someone who is on the register for some other electoral area, they have the person's PPSN and so on. Surely, it should be a matter of just putting that person on the register. The local authority should be able to do so. Many people who move into our county to live in a local authority house finish up not being on the register, even though they got a local authority house. The same should apply to voluntary housing run by Clúid or others. The approved housing bodies get their nominations from the local authorities. That is important. We need to create awareness and keep reminding people to put their names on the register.

We all love working for them. We all want to be elected. I have done my level best for the number of years and days I have been here. The election is coming up and I ask the people of Kerry to come out and vote again for me, and for Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, to ensure we return. We also have three candidates running in the local elections next year so I ask the people of Kerry to keep us here and there because if they do, we will continue to work for them.

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