Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport on a matter I raised in the Seanad based on an initiative started by Young Fine Gael. Young people from 16 to 18 years of age will now be eligible for student fares on Bus Éireann, Luas, DART, short hop Irish Rail journeys, on Dublin Bus and in Cork. That is a help but I also ask that the initiative would be extended to Bus Éireann nationwide and to Irish Rail nationwide. Action was taken on the campaign, which was begun by Young Fine Gael, brought to the Seanad by me and passed on to the Minister by the Leader.

The second matter I raise is one I also raised prior to the election. It is time for a motion to be passed in this House that the electoral register would be based on one's PPS number. It is everybody's right to vote but not everyone exercises the right. I came across a few people last weekend who found out at the polling station that they had been taken off the register. That could not happen if the register was linked to the PPS number. I urge the Leader to arrange to have a motion passed in this House for a change in the electoral register as I outlined, and for it then to be brought to the attention of the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. It should not be the case that one would physically knock on doors to ask who lives in the house and then put those people on the register. Given today's technology the way to proceed is by using PPS numbers.