Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I commend the Minister for remaining in the House as it shows a commitment to his views. I expressed a concern some time ago that, with voting taking place on 11 June in European, local and town elections, a fourth unit on the voting panel would be confusing. That is no longer a problem because the election will be paper based. The independent commission has decided that electronic voting will not take place on 11 June. It will be used at a later date but we will not sell the machines to Mr. Mugabe. Many of those who were trained in its use are very upset. I was told that they were convinced of its quality and fairness. However, it changed my point about the difficulty with the referendum in that four ballots had to be cast from one machine. There are now four or five booths so a vote can be cast easily.

The Minister has been very convincing on this issue as he is one of the leading senior counsel in the country. We are lucky that he is the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He has a very good grasp of the issues. I would like to comment on the issue of the acquisition of citizenship through birth. The case made by a doctor from Cork, who sent a message to the Minister for Health and Children, caused me great concern. I read there was a racket to bring pregnant women here to have children who could acquire citizenship. We also have a responsibility to other EU states.

I do not think that the issue is particularly urgent. The child who acquires citizenship can only obtain a passport at 18 years of age.