Results 2,201-2,220 of 7,278 for speaker:Dick Roche

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: The deadline for the local authorities is 2 January. The completion date for work on the register will be 12 January. That gives until 15 February for the hard copy to be produced. The register, of course, will be published on 1 February.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: ——and 1 February——

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: No, the court will have to complete its work by 12 January.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: The courts will all have to be in the early part of January. Under the existing arrangements they had to be, effectively, the week before Christmas. One can always say there is never going to be a good time, but the reality is that there is no practical benefit from a further extension. All that happens is that we do what is normally done in this country, namely, that everything is put on...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: We procrastinate and matters are not improved by doing so. It would be much better to tell the councils they have until 2 January, that they have the resources and can get the back office work done. They should therefore get the job done. Once there is a proper register the big challenge for the politicians to maintain it in that condition. When we are back in Government, we shall do that.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: As a former postal worker, I tend to agree with the Senator. There is a small point to be considered, however, namely, that we could not take the job away from the councils without causing some difficulties. I did not exclude the idea of postmen and postwomen being recruited. However, there were some industrial or human relations issues that had to be dealt with. To return to the general...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: ——and that is a cogent reason for people getting on the register now. The Senator will be surprised to learn that for the last general election, 50,000 people used the device of the supplementary register. The supplementary register was introduced because people were changing houses, and also because young people were reaching 18 and being disenfranchised, in effect, for long periods of...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: No one will be disenfranchised. The supplementary register will be available to every citizen from 9 December up to the 15th day before voting. There is adequate capacity to get on the register. The Senator is correct to state that going to a Garda station is more inconvenient than simply filling out a form. However, the Senator must be cognisant of another issue, of which his party is...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: I thank the House for the interesting contributions here today. As ever, I thank Senator Bannon for his interesting contributions. He shares my passionate interest in democracy and, of course, in returning a good Government to office next June.

Seanad: Outdoor Education Centres (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: I thank the Senators for making a coherent case in respect of Tanagh outdoor education centre. I apologise for the absence of the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Hanafin, who is unable to attend the debate. As Senators will learn, I have a personal interest in this matter. Outdoor education centres, such as the centre in Tanagh, County Monaghan, have been developed by...

Seanad: Hospitals Building Programme. (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: Dingle-Daingean Uí Chúis is another issue which lands on my shoulders.

Seanad: Hospitals Building Programme. (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: I am pleased to have the opportunity to respond on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for Health and Children, Deputy Harney, who apologises for her absence. I thank the Deputy for raising the question as it provides me with an opportunity to outline to this House the current position with regard to the extension to Kenmare Community Hospital in County Kerry. It is the Government's policy...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: I am at something of a loss to understand the basis for the amendment. The provision as it stands provides under section 3(1)(b) that the application form must be either signed by the prisoner or if the prisoner is unable to sign, the applicant can make a mark which somebody will witness. Therefore, the provision exists already. I fail to understand how a situation would arise whereby...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: To be clear, the current arrangement is that a person who cannot sign can make a mark. This covers all the practical situations likely to arise. We are talking about a person getting on a postal vote system in a prison.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: I am delighted the Senator has given me the opportunity to touch on a number of points. There is no silver bullet solution to preparing an electoral register. A quote I made in the other House pointed out that one of the international bodies that considers this area states the most difficult and intractable area, and the one most fraught with difficulties, is the preparation of the...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: Exactly. I have changed my address several times, as many of us have done. There is no automatic way for the PPS number system to note that one has changed one's address, or moved in or out of the country. I accept that Senator Bannon's amendments are well-intended, but they are simply not practical. They would not work for the reasons I have given. Over 250,000 people from the ten new EU...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: Ireland does not have such a system. It exists in some continental countries, at least in theory, but it does not apply here. I would like to debunk the myth that some marvellous work was done in Northern Ireland and that it worked. When the work that was being done there encountered some very serious difficulties, tens of millions of pounds had to be invested in it. Hundreds of thousands...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: When one considers that an average of 30,000 people die in Ireland every year, that last year, 90,000 new homes were sold, a further 50,000 homes changed hands and that 45,000 people over the age of 18 came to this country to work, it is likely that there were over 500,000 changes of address in 2005. I am not sure that all those changes could be tracked by some kind of automatic system...

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: The Senator must have been very slow off the mark.

Seanad: Electoral (Amendment) Bill 2006: Committee and Remaining Stages (5 Dec 2006)

Dick Roche: That is right.