John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We will be dealing with the specific issues regarding city and county sheriffs, and city and county registrars, and the boundary question in the Local Government Bill, which will be before this House before the turn of the year. We will have more information about those matters when the legislation is debated.

I am not trying to downplay the numbers. The fact that 27 polling stations were inaccessible in 2016 is not good enough. In the most recent election, held last month, the figure was down to 23. A number of problem stations in Kerry were either not used in the most recent election or alternative venues were found.

Many of the issues Senator Devine spoke about in the context of the template are now part of the consideration that will take place between the NCBI and the Department and that will form part of what I hope will be a wider group to deal with accessibility in general.Many of the issues raised by Senator Devine will be part of the considerations of the National Council for the Blind of Ireland and the Department, which will form part of what I hope will be a wider group to deal with accessibility in general. The issue of the shutter did come up but there was not enough time available to deal with it before the most recent presidential election. We have seven months until the next local elections and, in that time, the shutters, the serrated edge and changing the size and spacing in the font on the template can form part of the deliberations of the group. Hopefully, we can improve it but it would be too definite to say we can get it right. There needs to be a continuous process of improvement. I fail to see why it cannot be in place in time for the elections due at the end of May next year.

Senator Dolan opened with a vitally important comment, one which is often not mentioned in discussions relating to voting and franchise. I get a lot of demands, requests and suggestions - some of them useful and others not - as to how to improve the quality of the register and voter participation. First, we have to provide people with the opportunity to cast their vote and, second, avoid doing anything that would undermine the system. People have confidence in the electoral process, excluding the aberration which was the electronic voting plan, and all of us who have taken part in elections have witnessed the physical supervision of bundles of ballot papers which enables us to know what is happening. Irish people will never deviate much from that but that is not to say things should not be improved where possible. The fundamental aspect of this is ensuring the list of 23 inaccessible stations is dealt with. It will probably involve the working group getting down into the nitty-gritty with returning officers in the constituencies involved. This goes to the heart of being Minister with responsibility for local government. There is significant local autonomy for returning officers in making provisions for the designation of polling stations and we can only set the rules. There are places without permanent structures which are accessible for people who want to cast a vote but temporary measures such as the provision of ramps in old primary school buildings can be taken. The polling station where I grew up, in a small village with ten houses, has all the necessary ramps for this purpose and this should be the case everywhere. We cannot ensure for certain that there will be permanent buildings that are 100% accessible but we can make temporary buildings accessible for polling day and we are all at one on this issue.

I will endeavour to respond directly to the Leader on the development of the informal group into a broader working group on accessibility in time for the next local and European elections in May 2019. I have no problem reverting to the House on that in due course.

I believe I have covered most of what Senators have said. I also welcome Robbie Sinnott - I did not know he was in the Gallery when I was speaking. He had to fight for rights for himself and others and has had a significant impact on our franchise arrangements. The way we cast our votes is such a fundamental part of our democracy that we often take it for granted and I would welcome Mr. Sinnott being part of the broader engagement on accessibility in advance of the elections which are due in seven months.