Michael McCarthy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 3:

In page 3, before section 2, to insert the following new section:

2.—Section 6 of the Act of 1997 is amended-

(a) in subsections (1)(b) and (2) by the deletion of 'statutory declaration' and the substitution therefor of 'statement pursuant to this section';

(b) in subsection (2) by the deletion of 'said declaration' and the substitution therefor of 'said statement':

(c) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (4):

'(5) A person who furnishes a statement pursuant to this section which is false or misleading in a material particular shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine of not more than €3,000 or imprisonment for a period of not more than 12 months or to both such fine and such imprisonment.'.".

Under section 6, a European national who wants to be on the register in Ireland has to furnish a statutory declaration in that he or she has to go to a solicitor to confirm that he or she is not in a position to vote abroad. This is extremely inconvenient and goes beyond the EU directive which requires only a formal statement to that effect. This amendment allows for a more convenient form of statement, pursuant to the subsection, which would not have to be witnessed by a solicitor and could be incorporated in the voter registration form.

I presume the Minister of State has advice from the Attorney General on this matter and, if so, I would be interested to hear his reply.