Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, to the House. I also thank the Minister, Deputy Alan Kelly, for a comprehensive response to Senator Keane's presentation, based on the deliberations of the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht.

The main focus of this debate has been on the electoral register and the question has arisen on the consultation paper as to whether an electoral commission should take on the registration responsibilities of local authorities. The Minister said that because of the complexities involved in changing the system, it may be a stand-alone project. I would be inclined to think that may be the way forward.

It is interesting that the rationale for establishing a stand-alone, independent electoral commission is multifaceted, but most advocates say it should be about addressing problems identified with the electoral register so as to bring about a comprehensive, accountable and up-to-date register. I am thankful to the Oireachtas Library for some of the information contained here. Interestingly, it states that a key problem identified with the register is that it overestimates the size of the adult population, opening up possibilities for the fraudulent use of ballots.

I listened to Senator Ó Domhnaill's interesting contribution and we know from experience that there are duplicate names on the register. The other aspect of the register is that electoral courts are held after the draft register is published. Local authorities then invite people to come before the council on a particular day either to get names added or withdrawn. There is more than anecdotal evidence to suggest that in some instances over the decades names have been removed from electoral registers for purely political purposes. In other words, people have gone into the courts and said: "By the way, that person isn't living there." One will usually find that the person advocating the removal of a name is of a completely different political persuasion.