Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will not be taking the ten minutes either. I want to raise something that was in one of the amendments. I am disappointed that they will not be accepted. I ask the Government to take another look at it and speak to the Electoral Commission. This relates to candidates’ addresses being published and the anonymity that some candidates should have. I questioned the Electoral Commission on this when it was at the housing committee last week. It seemed unwilling to move from the situation where candidates are required to publish their addresses and those addresses are required to be made publicly available. The problem is where the addresses are made publicly available. People are getting more concerned about the security of those involved in public life. As incitement to hatred is directed towards certain individuals and public debate gets more robust and, in some cases, dangerous, it is certainly putting an awful lot of people off coming into public life. This is an issue particularly for people who may be victims of domestic violence where they wish to keep their specific address private. I ask that the Minister of State look at it and that the Electoral Commission consider this. There is no reason for us not to provide for a candidate’s address to be on file but not released to the public. It could be made public that they live in a certain constituency or ward, but without their personal address being made available to people. This is a real concern for some people, particularly those who do not feel safe having their address made public. A change is essential. We are cutting off their access to public life by maintaining the current position. I ask the Minister of State to look at it, or to direct the commission to do so, and to get feedback from the wider public on how we can proceed while protecting people’s safety and addresses.