Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

It is extremely disturbing to see the Government using taxpayer's money to try to block the democratic right of citizens to vote. I cannot believe that, after Senator Doherty won his case, it will now use more public money in a last ditch effort to stop people using their votes. This is extraordinary. I cannot believe I am seeing this following a judgment by the High Court or that the Government is intent on leaving three Dáil seats empty and continuing to deny people in the constituencies of Waterford, Dublin South and Donegal North-East the right to vote. This is what dictatorships all over the world do - they use mechanisms to stop people voting and giving them the right to vote. This is extraordinarily serious.