I find it very unsettling that amendments come in at a very late stage and that we in the Department do not know whether they will be allowed or disallowed by the Bills Office. We should accept that this is the procedure. There needs to be some correction to that because, frankly, it is wasteful of administrative time and is surely frustrating for Opposition spokespersons. It is also frustrating for a Minister because one does not know what one will receive until the last minute. The Committee on Procedure and Privileges should deal with this matter in both Houses because it is clearly unsatisfactory. I assure members that it was not through any effort of mine.
In respect of the register of electors, I am unsure as to whether Deputy Gilmore was present. I made the point that I would like to have a meeting about this because I accept a point made by Deputy O'Dowd that the register is important to us all and is not a partisan issue. It is an issue that must be updated. I have many views on the matter. We have visited over 1 million houses in the last three months. During that particular case, we visited up to 250,000 houses on more than two occasions. A total of 1,500 workers have been working in the field, €6 million in taxpayers' money has been spent and a few million euro have been spent on advertising. In respect of the case involving Deputy McCormack's son, there is a process whereby the register can be corrected between now and 25 November.
I was very anxious to discuss the register with this committee because by 25 November, we will have invested more money, time and effort than any Government at any stage in the history of this State in ensuring that we have a proper register. The first responsibility of a democrat is to ensure we have a proper electoral roll and that people who are entitled to vote are on this roll. I very much welcome an opportunity to discuss this matter and the future of the register of electors for both Dáil and Seanad elections. I suggested that I would be available to this committee for a session to do precisely that.
I agree with the point made by Deputy O'Dowd on a number of occasions that this is a matter for which we all have responsibility. If situations arise such as that involving Deputy McCormack's son, where he received an inefficient notification from a council, this is clearly indefensible. I took exception to the wording of one letter which was sent out by a council to several thousand people and made this clear to the relevant county manager. I have not seen the letter pertaining to the case of Deputy McCormack's son. I made it very clear that I expected a senior official from the council to go on local radio and apologise for what I regarded as a grotesquely and ignorantly worded letter. The whole point of the advertising campaign was to help people to get on the register and for people to do this in an aggressive way is not acceptable. To be fair, the field officers have done an astonishing job. We have two complaints that people called during the All-Ireland Final, which is a sign that they are fairly enthusiastic about their work.
I welcome an opportunity to discuss the compilation of the register of electors. Now that we have created a very good and up-to-date register, we should examine how the register is compiled, going forward. This also applies in the case of the universities which, to put it mildly, have been lethargic in the updating of their registers. When one sees a significant number of graduates from 1904 who are still registered, one wonders about their longevity. I am open to discussion.
