Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom labhairt ar feadh nóiméid faoi chlárúcháin vótála. The deadline for registration on the draft register of electors is 25 November next. It is important to encourage people to register to vote so that they have a say in the next election, whenever that might be. It is also important to remind people that no matter where they come from, as long as they are living in Ireland and they are over 18 years of age by 15 February 2021, they are entitled to be part of that process. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Malcolm Noonan, has responsibility for this area, including for reform which would be welcome.

There are few times in the year when it is as obvious as it is now that there benefits to having an independent election process and an independent voter registration process. We are witnessing in the United States the extraordinary scenario whereby officials who are responsible for administering voter registration or the counting of ballots are also on news channels giving partisan political commentary. This is extraordinary to Irish ears. We are incredibly lucky that we have a system that is independent in that regard. However, it is not a system that does not require reform. The fact that there is one draft register that is completed on 15 February every year is a cumbersome and unnecessary aspect of our voter registration system. By the same token, there is huge duplication within the system. Individual entries are not given individual identifier numbers such as PPS numbers or dates of birth, which allows for duplication. This means, for example, that statistics on turnout are inevitably inaccurate.

I am calling for a debate on reform of that system to ensure it is not only transparent but also accurate and facilitates those who are more mobile than others. Young people in particular do not live for all time at one address. If they are students, they rent properties which quite often are far away from where they grew up. In those circumstances, we need to put in place a system that facilitates their registration and voting in the areas in which they are resident at any given time. We need to have a debate on this matter.