Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I call for a debate on how we conduct elections in this country. I have noticed breaches of the Electoral Acts throughout the country, and I look forward to the publication of the findings of Standards in Public Office Commission following the elections. We need to have a reformation on how we carry out elections in this country. For example, thousands of people will be disenfranchised because they live abroad and they cannot vote. Hundreds of people going on holidays or going on pilgrimages will be unable to vote. That is wrong. We must facilitate people in voting. We must extend the franchise to all citizens so that we can have a truly democratic electoral process.

I support the call made by Senators McCarthy and O'Donovan for a debate on the HSE. We have had a reconfiguration, which is a great way of saying acute services in many parts of our country are being closed, but especially in the city and county of Cork. If we close the hospital in Bantry, does the Leader think it is right that a person living in the Beara peninsula must drive to Cork for hospital services? It is wrong. The HSE has failed in its duty to the people and we must amend it immediately.