Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I cannot accept the Minister of State's last comment. In saying that, I am not having a go at her. She should ask some of my colleagues in the other House, who represent constituencies where island voters live, about this. There is no basis to indicate, nor is it a scientific fact, that island voters prefer to vote early. That is not the case. Research has not been conducted by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to get every islander's view on this. If a poll had been conducted, I might accept that view but I do not accept it on the basis of a returning officer having said that he or she spoke to a few people on the island and that there was no issue with this. That is not what happens when an election is called.

The island population telephones the local radio station, whether it be Raidió na Gaeltachta, Galway Bay FM, Highland Radio in Donegal, to complain that voting will be early. People complain to us, as public representatives, that voting is being held early and bodies on the islands, whether co-operatives, committees or otherwise, raise the issue also. Returning officers saying there is no issue is not based on fact or anything else.

The postal voting issue is set down in legislation to allow people to vote who cannot attend at a polling station. There is a big difference between a postal vote and people, who could vote on polling day, voting early. This is not a question of people who cannot vote on polling day but of people not being allowed to do so. There is a massive difference. There are constitutional issues. By proceeding in this way, the State is leaving itself open to a constitutional challenge in this area some time in the future which will result in additional costs for the State. This could be easily remedied. I do not believe it is a Fine Gael and Labour Party Government issue that is precluding this. There may be factors around working conditions and issues within the Department of Environment Community and Local Government that are precluding this. It just takes a bit political leadership to say "No" on this one and that we will allow these people to vote on the same day as everyone else.

Why can we not hold the count back for a day? There is nothing to stop that happening. Failure to provide for this in the legislation represents a lost opportunity.