Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate all those councillors who have been elected to date.We have lost some very good people across the system as well. We should think of them and their families. It is a really disappointing time when you suffer a loss like that. I want to commend the Leader on a very credible performance in Midlands-North-West. We will gain a seat there, which is good, but she played her part seriously in that as well and I commend her on that.

I also rise this morning to pay tribute to a former Member of this House, former Seanadóir Terry Leyden. He has now become, and I have to give him his proper official title, the honorary consul of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Dublin with jurisdiction for Ireland. He is not finished in the world of politics yet. I know he is very proud of this particular appointment and we wish him well. If the House agrees, we will send him a letter of congratulations.

To finish, there is one very serious aspect of the elections that have just gone by. In many parts of the country, 50% plus are not voting. For one, I do not accept excuses such as it is the summer time, students have gone away or students are at work. Yes, that takes a certain percentage but the figures are very low and I suggest to the Leader that we should have a debate on this issue in this House. Quite a number of people, which is growing, do not think it worth their while voting anymore. We need to have that debate. We need to look at spoiled votes and papers not being stamped. All these things need to be looked it. There is no reason papers should not be stamped. It is all over the place. If we are serious about all of this, I would like to see a debate and the relevant Minister brought in. People on every side will have valid things to say on this but we should have that debate.