Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is important legislation. Providing in statute for the use of registers of electors in selecting members of a Citizens' Assembly is not an issue in itself. However, the register of electors is a shambles. Dead people are still listed on the register, as are people who left the country decades ago and people with differing first names, middle names and even confirmation names. These electors should not be counted in the same way as one living resident. Incredible staff in local authorities worked very hard prior to the recent local elections to try to ensure that people were registered, including with new details if they had moved or changed their name. There are terrific staff in my area and I am sure that it is the same countrywide. However, across the country, I have heard many stories about people not being registered, being registered numerous times, and polling cards arriving for the deceased, which was a significant issue. We talk about poor voter turnout relative to the electorate but there may be a record-keeping reason for that. While, in principle, the use of the electoral register is fine with me, I have a problem with the state of the register. To select 99 citizens at random, I believe that we need to ensure that the pool is in order first.

I wholeheartedly welcome the Citizens' Assembly 2019 to bring forward proposals to advance gender equality. I agree that, given the result of the recent plebiscite, having a Dublin Citizens' Assembly to consider the best model of local government for Dublin and the powers of a directly-elected mayor may not be a bad thing at all. The Minister needs us to approve this Bill to allow these citizens to be assembled and I am fine with that. I ask him to look at how we count people who can vote and perhaps consider linking it with one's personal public service, PPS, number. All of this is interlinked. Will the Minister look at PPS numbers? There has to be a way to make it easier for people to vote with less paperwork. I feel that there is such a low turnout because of the paperwork or mistakes made. I cannot blame anyone. Local authority staff are doing a great job. We need to look at the broader picture. This will all feed back into the process. I thank the Minister.