Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

There is a perception that this work is a closed shop. Guidelines are only guidelines and it will be like judges' pay unless there is a willingness to meaningfully engage. I take on aboard what the Minister of State said about experience but a lot of these areas are systems driven. Once a system is in place they can be, and necessarily are to a large extent, foolproof. I hope that we see new blood. The closed shop image exists in many polling stations throughout the country where the same people have done it for years and nobody else is given an opportunity unless one of them dies.

We need to move away from that system. We need a citizens panel of competency that gives a fairer balance for what amounts to between €300 and €400 for a day's work. As far as I am concerned, it is an easy win. Instead of issuing guidelines we should be a little harder and deliver the message that it is Government policy to have at least a 30% to 40% employment rate of people who need the money. Some polling stations have three to four polling booths with two people assisting at each one. There is no excuse for this and action must be taken. I take on board the experience element but the job is not rocket science. It is important and needs to be done correctly but there are plenty of competent people that can do it.