Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The task of compiling the register has become more difficult as a result of the rapid population growth, increased personal mobility, growing numbers of gated apartment complexes and increased rates of new household formation and so on. These are all challenges and many of the difficulties were made known to people during the recent census.

Problems with voting registers are not new. They present challenges in many jurisdictions. A study was carried out last year on electoral systems design published by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance. It commented that voter registration is the most complex, controversial and often least successful part of electoral administration. The Government accepts that the quality of the register is not satisfactory and that action is required. It is taking the necessary action, as reflected in the Government amendment now before the House.

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, recently announced a package of measures to support local authorities in securing significant improvements in the register. These measures include the provision of updated guidance by the Department so that all local authorities work to the same template, as well as the use of temporary staff, possibly census enumerators, to provide local authorities with additional manpower in preparing the next register. An intensive, door-to-door campaign will be initiated and additional, ring-fenced funding will be provided to local authorities for this purpose. It is also intended to have an early start to the register campaign for 2007-08.

New arrangements are now in place to delete deceased persons from the register and an intensive information campaign is to be undertaken in tandem with the preparation of the register. Between what the Department is doing and what all the political parties can do, the register will be a much improved document by this time next year. The Department is working with a group of local authority managers and senior officials to help ensure that the above mentioned measures are implemented effectively.

It is proposed that each household will be visited and provided with forms at least twice. In the event that this process does not register the household, written notification will then be given, cautioning of the danger of the likelihood of household members being omitted from the register.

There is wide acceptance of the need for a more rigorous approach to compiling the register to ensure that electoral fraud is avoided. That is the key issue. Whatever about imperfections in the register, the main point is to avoid or remove the opportunity for fraud. There is, at the same time, a need to avoid disenfranchising voters or discouraging the fullest possible voter participation. A balance must be struck and there should be a broad political consensus on these issues. That is why the Minister has taken the initiative by asking the Joint Committee on Environment and Local Government to have an early discussion on these issues. I understand that this discussion will take place next week, which should provide a good opportunity for all involved to work together, in a constructive manner, for consensus on issues which are of fundamental importance to the well-being of our democracy.

In saying that, the point must also be made that while the law places the formal obligation on the local authority to compile the register, it is essential that individual citizens play their full part in ensuring that they are entered correctly on the register. This is a question of personal responsibility. It cannot be argued that the citizen can just stand by and do nothing, leaving it up to the local authority to locate and register him or her. If the concept of citizenship is to mean anything, citizens must check if they are correctly registered to vote and contact their local authority if they are not.

My Department has asked all local authorities to ensure that registration information, including current registration forms, is prominent on their websites. An on-line register search facility is now available for people to check if they are on the register. I urge members of all political parties to engage with the electorate on this issue and to be proactive in encouraging everyone to co-operate. The Government is taking action. The local authorities will shortly begin the 2007-08 register campaign but the desired improvements we all seek require significant support from all parties.

There is a real difference between the registration and voting processes. While inaccuracies in the register can cause problems and must be addressed, what happens on polling day is what really counts. In that context, the Government has introduced more stringent controls in recent times to counter electoral fraud.

Strong legislation must be mirrored on the ground by vigilance on the part of polling staff and personation agents to ensure that only those eligible are permitted to vote. Standing guidance from the Department calls for one in four voters to be asked for an identity document, up from one in 20 before 2002. Presiding officers, poll clerks and party agents must carry out their vital task diligently and responsibly. They must also do so throughout the day of an election. There is no point in being vigilant only when elderly people are coming in during quiet periods. Identity checking must be done all day long, particularly at busy times, when people are more likely to attempt to engage in fraud.

All of the measures I have outlined are aimed at ensuring that local authorities make the maximum effort to improve the quality of the register in the period immediately ahead and that the citizen also plays his or her full part. Nobody is doubting that there are problems with the register. They have not arisen overnight and will not be fully solved overnight. A careful and considered approach is necessary. It is not practical to talk about radical change in the registration process over a short period.

However, with the measures proposed by the Minister, we can get the register into a far better state than is currently the case by November of this year, when the draft register will be published. The Government would not be serving the public interest, or the democratic process itself, by proposing fundamental change without sufficient thought, planning and consultation.

I call on all parties to support the measures outlined to improve the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the register in the short term. The Government is also open to the consideration of longer-term options regarding the electoral registration process on a cross-party basis. That is the way forward and we can also learn lessons from previous debates. For the reasons I have set out, I commend the motion, as amended, to the House.