Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

Senator Brian Hayes raised the matter of voting and of people being away in May and June. Let us not fret about June, but talk about May. I hope we all have a holiday in June.

Postal votes are not just for the Defence Forces or Garda, but also for people who are bed bound or invalids. Many of these have applied for postal votes. Senator Hayes suggests that as the postal vote principle has been established, we should try to find a mechanism whereby those legitimately travelling abroad during the general election could exercise their vote. I do not know if that can be done. The same question was asked recently at a meeting I attended. I will talk to the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to see if the issue can be tackled.

The Senator also asked when the House would debate the Moriarty report. We hope to debate it as soon as the current spate of legislation is concluded as it is part of our schedule.

Senator O'Toole asked if we could have a grand coalition. No thanks.