Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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173. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will consider introducing a provision for early voting in future general elections and referenda in line with many other European countries; if provision will be made for those persons on holidays, those on pilgrimage or absent due to work commitments; his views on whether the present system of postal voting is out of date for a modern country and on the many alternatives which are working effectively elsewhere which still protect the integrity of the ballot and democratic process; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32642/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Electoral law provides that a person who is entitled to vote at an election or referendum shall vote in person at a polling station allotted to him or her unless they are included in the postal voters list or in the special voters list for the constituency concerned.

Postal voting is provided for in electoral law in respect of certain categories of person who are entered in the register of electors including electors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely that they will be unable to vote in person at their local polling station on polling day.

While electoral law is subject to ongoing review, I have no proposals at present to extend existing arrangements for postal voting or to introduce an early or advance voting system. In 2014, in responding to the recommendation in the Fourth Report of the Convention on the Constitution that there should be greater access to postal voting, the Government proposed that an Electoral Commission be tasked in due course with considering the issue and advising in detail on the electoral and operational implications, including costs, of implementing change in this area.

A Programme for a Partnership Government includes a commitment to establish an Electoral Commission. I am not in a position at this point to indicate a definitive timeline for the establishment of an Electoral Commission, which will bring a fundamentally changed approach to the management and administration of elections. The necessary detailed consideration and analysis is being undertaken in my Department towards the preparation of an Electoral Commission Bill.