Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Obviously the council was concerned at such high levels of non-registration. In 1999 the National Youth Council of Ireland recommended that the establishment of an electoral commission in Ireland be explored. The recommendation was made 15 years ago but nothing has been done since. In that time the level of non-registration of young people has doubled. We were concerned about non-registration 15 years ago and now we can see that figure is growing.

A few months ago NYCI published the results of a survey which found that the levels of non-registration of young people aged between 18 and 25 years is now at 30% and among the 18 to 21-year olds the level is 43%. From such data we estimate that up to 138,000 young people are not on the electoral rolls which clearly demonstrates that the current electoral registration system is broken and in need of repair.

I know the staff in local authorities work extremely hard to maintain and update the electoral register. The problem is that the current system is outdated and is not fit for purpose. Some local authorities conduct door to door surveys but others do not due to staff and funding shortages. That means the level of registration and its accuracy depends on where one lives.

The current system is a 19th century system because it is based on the premise that the vast majority of people never leave the locality in which they were born and raised. However, we know that 51% of second level school leavers attend third level. Not to mention that many more leave home at 17 and 18 years of age to pursue further education, training or to take up work. These young people fall through the voter registration cracks and as a result are not registered at home or at their place of education, training or work because their lives are very transient. If we take an average 12 months of a young person's life one will realise he or she will live in many locations during that period. Research shows us that young people who vote early in life are much more likely to continue to exercise their franchise throughout their lifetime.