Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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106. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the way that the Government plans to encourage 16-to-18-year-olds to pre-register for the electoral register; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3197/23]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Electoral Reform Act 2022, delivers the legislative underpinning for a range of significant electoral reforms set out in the “Programme for Government – Our Shared Future”. Provisions commenced on 13 October under S.I. No. 512 of 2022, included provisions which modernise electoral registration, including the requirement for each registration authority to establish and maintain a pending elector list. This enables the pre-registration of 16 and 17 year olds, who are then transferred to the electoral register automatically when they turn 18.

A national awareness campaign took place in November 2022 to inform the public of the changes to the registration process and to encourage people to register and update their details. The upgraded checktheregister.ie website enables young people to easily submit requests to pre-register. As part of ongoing awareness raising, posters have also been distributed to organisations working with young people, and a further awareness campaign will be undertaken in 2023 taking account of the outcomes of the 2022 campaign.

In addition, one of the functions of An Coimisiún Toghcháin,once established, will be to promote public awareness of, and participation in, the State’s electoral and democratic processes through public education and public information programmes, including for young people.