Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Buttimer for raising this issue and for giving me the opportunity to brief the House on the issue of postal voting. Under electoral law, in order to be able to vote at elections and referendums in this jurisdiction, a person's name must be entered on the register of electors for a constituency in the State in which the person ordinarily resides. Each city and county council is statutorily responsible for maintaining the electoral register in its functional area, which comes into force on 15 February each year. The person's citizenship determines the polls at which he or she is entitled to vote.

Postal voting is provided for in electoral law, as enacted by the Oireachtas, in respect of certain categories of persons who are entered in the register of electors. The Electoral Act 1992 provides for postal voting by wholetime members of the Defence Forces, members of the Garda Síochána and Irish diplomats serving abroad and their spouses. Subsequent legislation enacted by the Oireachtas has extended postal voting to other categories. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 1996 covers electors living at home who are unable to vote because of a physical illness or a physical disability. The Electoral Act 1997 addresses electors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely that they will be unable to vote in person at their local polling station on polling day. In these cases, the law provides for completion of the necessary voting documentation at a Garda station. The same Act also gives postal votes to fulltime students registered at their home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2001 covers certain election staff employed at the poll outside the constituency where they reside. The Electoral (Amendment) Act 2006 includes in the postal voting arrangements electors who are likely to be unable to go in person on polling day to vote because of the circumstances of their detention in prison pursuant to an order of a court. As in other electoral matters, in considering the possible extension of postal voting, there is a need to strike a balance between facilitating participation in the democratic process by the greatest possible number, to which Senator Buttimer refers and to which we all subscribe, and the need to avoid putting in place arrangements that are open to abuse and that would be difficult to enforce, thereby undermining the validity of the whole process.

The programme for Government, agreed in 2007, contains a commitment to establish an independent Electoral Commission that will, amongst other things, take responsibility for electoral administration and oversight and implement modern and efficient electoral practices. The renewed programme for Government reaffirms this commitment and states the commission will propose reforms to the electoral system across a wide range of areas within 12 months. I have no doubt that postal voting will be one aspect of the electoral system that will arise for consideration in this context. This is the best way to take forward consideration of the important issues that have been raised this evening.

I agree with Senator Buttimer on the question of Sunday voting. Regarding the interaction of young people and this House, we should pay tribute to the education programme of the Oireachtas and to the outreach officers doing such a fine job. I am not sure if we should inflict young people on SPCs.