Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North-West Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am replying on behalf of my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Kelly. A fundamental principle of our electoral system is voting by secret ballot. This is enshrined in the Constitution for Dáil, Seanad and presidential elections. For local and European elections and for referendums, the provisions on secrecy are set out in primary legislation.

Arrangements for the holding of elections and for registered voters to cast their ballots are all built on this principle. The electoral Acts make special provision for certain voters and, over the years, improvements have been introduced aimed at making the voting process as accessible and inclusive as possible. These include provision for voting at an alternative polling station if a person's local polling station is inaccessible. Voters who cannot go to their polling station due to a physical disability or physical illness may avail of postal voting or the special voting arrangements provided in hospitals and nursing homes. The placing of photographs and political party emblems on ballot papers and the display of a large-print copy of the ballot paper in polling stations are aimed at assisting visually impaired voters in particular.

Special provision is made for voters whose sight is so impaired that they are unable to vote without assistance at a polling station. Such voters may vote with the assistance of a companion or the presiding officer, as they choose. While this arrangement meets the needs of many voters, it may not meet the needs of all, and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is committed to improving these arrangements. Our commitment to enhance access to voting by persons who are blind is stated in the national disability strategy.

In June of this year, officials of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government participated in a National Disability Authority trial of a range of options for voting by visually impaired persons. These included the use of tactile voting templates. The report on the trial is awaited from the authority.

That is an outline of the position generally. Seanad elections are somewhat different in that voting does not take place in polling stations. Article 18.5° of the Constitution provides that the election of Members of Seanad Éireann shall be by secret postal ballot. Senator Quinn, having been elected by the graduates of the National University of Ireland on many occasions, is no doubt well versed in the electoral procedures that operate for the constituency. I am a member of that constituency. At an election, each registered graduate is sent, by registered post, an envelope containing voting documentation, including a ballot paper and a declaration of identity form. These arrangements apply to all voters in the NUI constituency.

Members of the House will be aware that in February 2014 the general scheme of the Seanad electoral (university members) (amendment) Bill was published for consultation. There was a very useful debate in this House on its proposed provisions in March. The general scheme is part of the legislative process to implement the 1979 constitutional amendment to extend the Seanad franchise to graduates of institutions of higher education in the State that heretofore did not form part of the Seanad university constituencies.

As part of the consultation process on the general scheme, a number of submissions were received - 22 in total. One was about voting arrangements for visually impaired persons. It recommended that consideration be given to allowing all those on the register for the university constituencies the option of voting by e-mail. It is an interesting idea. However, fundamental issues arise concerning whether e-mail would meet the constitutional requirement of conducting Seanad elections by secret postal ballot. Notwithstanding this point, the technical feasibility of introducing such a system would have to be a consideration. Our experience with electronic voting in Ireland was a not particularly good one.

Another idea proposed in the submission was to allow voters with a visual impairment the option of using a cardboard or plastic template which would be placed over the ballot paper. This template would be in a format readable by a person with a visual impairment. The National Disability Authority trials of these templates were already mentioned. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government looks forward to receiving the findings of this research and will give them due consideration. The Minister is open to ideas that can improve upon the arrangements currently in place for voters with a visual impairment. The Department must be mindful that any proposed reforms have to be consistent with existing constitutional provisions and must be capable of being deployed usefully in practice.