Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

—shares the concerns about the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the electoral register, which reflect the challenges presented by electoral registration in many jurisdictions, as recognised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance in its study of electoral system design in 2005;

—endorses the Government's programme to support and assist local authorities in working to secure significant improvement in the electoral register in the short term, through:

—updated and consolidated guidance to all local authorities,

—the use of census enumerators, or other temporary staff, to assist local authorities in intensive fieldwork as part of a new register campaign,

—provision of additional financial resources to local authorities to support intensified action on the register,

—an early start to the register campaign for 2007-08,

—new arrangements to delete deceased persons from the register,

—better on-line facilities to help people check the voting register, including an additional on-line facility through the website of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government,

—an intensive public information campaign,

—supports full consideration of longer-term options in relation to the electoral registration process on a cross-party basis;

—acknowledges the importance of strengthened controls at the polls and, noting that current guidance, which will be highlighted to returning officers and presiding officers at the next election, requires that at least 25% of voters be asked to produce an identity document, accepts that there is a need for balance between this requirement to maintain the security and integrity of the electoral process and providing a necessary degree of flexibility;

—notes that the Oireachtas agreed to the establishment of the Commission on Electronic Voting and that the timing of further use of the electronic voting and counting system is dependent on the progress made with the ongoing work of the commission, the Government's programme of further assessment, testing and validation of the system, the associated decisions arising in this regard, and dates at which future polls may be held; and

—notes that the Electoral Act 1992, in accordance with the principle of local responsibility, already provides that each local authority, in consultation with the relevant returning officer(s), is required to make a polling scheme dividing the county or city into polling districts and appointing a polling place for each polling district, and that this is a reserved function of the local authority.

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the opportunity to discuss this issue, which, as spokesman on the environment for my party, I have raised on a number of occasions, particularly the use of enumerators to compile an accurate register.

An accurate register is the basis of democracy and concerns were voiced in the Dáil about it, with the Taoiseach noting 80 people registered to vote in one house in his constituency. These concerns are not new and not even unique to the Republic of Ireland; the same issue has been raised in Northern Ireland, with efforts made there to make the register more accurate. There are also concerns about the lack of registration in rural areas. There was a gap of 300,000 between the 3 million eligible to vote in Dáil elections in 2002 and the census data for 2002 that showed 2.7 million voters over the age of 18.

I agree with Senator Bannon that only the named individual should be able to remove his or her name. I remember the lists given by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, the two major parties in my constituency in the 1970s, to the register courts. There was agreement on the majority of names to be included but there would be hell to pay over a small number of names where one party would object to the other nominating a person to be added to the register. Those register courts saw a lot of politics. The political parties are not as active as they once were in compiling lists of names to be included in or excluded from a register. The rate collectors did a good job in the past, with even school principals providing the names of those who had left school at 13 who still lived in the area.

We must focus on what must be done between now and 1 November when the draft register will be published. From February next year, the 2007-08 register will apply. I agree that we must take effective action and I welcome the Minister's announcement of a package of measures to improve the register. He mentioned the use of census enumerators or other temporary staff, such as students. If local authorities could be assisted by these staff in preparing the next register, it would be a good start to an intensive campaign.

Local authorities, however, cannot be asked to undertake such work without additional financial resources. That will happen and the Minister will make the resources available. In the amendment we mention the provision of guidance so that local authorities all work to the same template. The local authorities should also be able to cross-check the register with other databases. The new staff could deal with this. It is important to make an early start so that all information and assistance is given to councils. There should be an information campaign to launch this initiative.

The Minister mentioned that there are 30,000 deaths each year and that names should be removed from the register, something we do not hear about as much because we normally only hear about those who do not get a chance to vote. There should be an arrangement for that. In the amendment we mention an on-line registration process and search facility so that people can check if they are included. It is also important that there is a link between the local authority and the Department so the website can provide accurate results.

Events on polling day are important for both candidates and voters. We have introduced much legislation in recent years to prevent abuses of the system. This must be mirrored by vigilance by polling staff and personation agents on the ground to ensure only those eligible to vote are allowed. This is an issue that should be discussed with returning and presiding officers when considering their duties in the prevention of voter fraud.

Along with the question of inaccuracies on the register, we must deal with what happens on polling day. We have provided strong powers to election officials in recent years. The Electoral Act 1992 strengthened the powers to affirm identity and increased penalties for electoral fraud. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2002 introduced more stringent requirements for entry to the supplemental register. Previously, I raised the issue of the green form provided by local authorities for registration purposes. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2004 made unlawful possession or use of someone else's polling card a specific offence. Since 2002, election staff have been advised in departmental guidelines to require at least 25% of voters to produce an identity document, an increase of 5%.

We are dealing with a lead-in process for the next election and must focus on what we can achieve in the relatively short time up to November 2006. We must have practical, realistic and sensible proposals to show the way forward. I agree with Senator Bannon that the use of the PPS number for registration is important. Senator Brian Hayes said we should have consultation on these issues. We must have consultation in order to have consensus on a system.

The Fine Gael motion raises the issue of production of photo ID at polling stations. The Minister spoke about one in four people being checked for ID. There are issues with regard to ID checks. For example, this might create a difficulty for the elderly in nursing homes. We should have some flexibility in this regard.

On electronic voting and the location of polling stations, I cannot understand how someone can say we should scrap electronic voting when we are trying to develop the use of information technology throughout the country. Senator Brian Hayes may recall the Kildare by-election when he and I were involved in checking the validity of votes. Perhaps I should not mention that election, but at least our candidate topped the poll. We would not have to examine the validity of votes if we had e-voting. The e-voting worked well in two elections. The mistake with regard to electronic voting was that there was not enough cross-party consultation on the issue. That should not mean we should scrap it altogether. It worked quite well and should be discussed further with the commission.

We have made changes with regard to providing access to polling stations. In previous years we sometimes had unseemly situations where people could not get into their polling stations without being accosted. The Government decided then that election agents and supporters should not be closer than 100 m. to a polling station. Local authorities should devise a scheme to ensure polling stations are in suitable places with access for people with disabilities and where people can have unhindered access to the station, particularly in the rush voting hours. This situation has improved and I hope this will continue. Some people say others do not know where the polling station is as a result of removing the supporters 100 m, but this is a poor excuse for trying to bring back the support teams to congregate outside the polling stations.

I welcome the discussion of this issue. We have the opportunity between now and November to take some small steps to improve the system and hopefully will have a better system in place next year.