Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I have no problems with most of the provisions in the Bill. The exception is section 11, which extends the deadline to 9 December for any person wishing to make a correction to the draft register. That is not a long enough extension and the Bill will barely have passed before the extension expires. I do not think there has been enough time for the message to reach people that an opportunity exists to put one's name on the updated register. It will help but it does not go far enough.

The work on the register has produced many positive outcomes, not least the fact that it has been cleaned up. Substantial work was carried out by local authorities in that regard, probably more than in other years, while the Minister provided extra staff.

The problem is that while a new system has been put in place, people are used to the old system. People who in previous years did not have to return a form and whose names remained on the register, despite ignoring leaflets dropped through their letter box, expected that the same would happen this year. People lead busy lives. Certainly where I live many leaflets are dropped through the letter box, including leaflets from people like me. People tend to just glance at them without examining the detail.

The extension granted to local authorities to put people's names back on the register should have been longer. I understood that during this month the local authorities were to engage in an intensive information campaign, involving visits to supermarkets, urging people to check the register and informing them that if their names were not on the register, they could still be included in it. I have not encountered that campaign. It might be ongoing but I have not seen it, although I am out and about regularly and visit the supermarket. It is important that such campaigns take place.

In the next few days councils should target areas where there has been a high number of deletions from the register. Council staff should be placed at shopping centres or groups of shops located near those areas in order that they can put back on the register the names of those that have been wrongly deleted from it. Political parties do a great deal to put people's names on the register, particularly in the period preceding elections. When party workers are canvassing an area, they use the electoral register and mark it as they go along. They can tell people if their names are not on the register and will often return to the house to deliver an application form for the inclusion of a name on the register. It would be helpful if political parties could get information on those whose names have been deleted from the register. If I looked through such a list, I would be able to indicate the names that have been wrongly deleted and should be returned to it. The people concerned are still living at the same address and probably want to vote. Political parties and independent candidates will play a role in getting people's names back on the register. Therefore, they should be provided with the information to do this.

My party leader asked the Data Protection Commissioner if a list of the names deleted from the register could be published. I do not know if the Minister took the issue any further but in his reply the Data Protection Commissioner suggested legislation could be passed to permit the publication of such a list which would be very helpful. If I were provided with a list of the names deleted from the register, I would do my utmost to get as many as possible back on it, regardless of a person's political persuasion. In many cases, I do not know their political persuasion as nowadays people are less open with such information. It is in my interest to have as many on the register as possible and to enable as many as possible to vote. Perhaps the Minister will comment on this suggestion.

The Labour Party spokesperson on the environment and local government has suggested it should be easier for people whose names have been deleted from the register to have their names returned to it. They should not have to get declarations and so forth. I would support anything that could be done in that regard. Obstacles will prevent people from putting their names on the register. Nowadays people do not have time to think; they do not have time to read the newspapers or watch television. We must make registration as easy as possible while, at the same time, ensuring the register is accurate and preventing abuses.

Where people had their names on the register already and had voted in previous elections, we should make their return to the register easy. A voter is required to have his or her declaration on the form witnessed by a garda or somebody in the local authority. This provision applies to European Parliament and general elections. However, if I recall correctly from previous experience, the form states a person should get a garda to witness it and if he or she cannot do so, he or she should go to the local authority. To make it easier, a person should be able to go to the local authority, make the declaration and have it witnessed there.