Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister of State for his constructive response. The matter of the Seanad elections is interesting. The ballot paper for those elections is considerable in length and sometimes includes 50 or 60 names. However, the electorate, that canny group comprising just over 1,000 people, is the most politically attuned entity in the country and its members utilise every preference. The advantage implied on a Seanad election is not as real as it is in European elections where hundreds of thousands vote.

The Minister of State said that the amendments represent an opportunity for us to ventilate these issues in the House. I have seen a considerable body of domestic academic documentation which points to this advantage. Our objective in electoral law is to always present the fairest option to the people in terms the presentation of ballot papers, accessibility of voting and the order in which people's names appear on ballot papers. Even if there is an implied advantage of 1% or 2% by virtue of the vagaries of the current alphabetic system we should try to change that. If the Minister of State is saying that he will reconsider this matter in consensus with other parties, I will take him up on that.