Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

Perhaps. However, we will counteract that. In the case of the presidential or European elections, if one is within one's Dáil constituency, one should be able to vote. Local elections are different because one must vote in a specified area. We should examine the advantages of the PPS number system.

On the question of notifying people who are being removed from the voting register, they should get a letter from the Courts Service stating they will be removed, and it would be up to them to appear at a court hearing. However, this is not happening. People are being removed from the register and the first they know of it is when they do not receive their polling card. I presume death certificates are issued when people die, therefore, it would make sense if the agency involved passed on the information to the relevant local authority so that the person could be removed from the register. This might avoid duplication. This area needs to be tightened up. This would also be fair to politicians who are using registers which are out-of-date and factually incorrect.