Vol. 53 No. 4
I move:—
Go ndeontar suim ná raghaidh thar £18,000 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith an bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1935, chun Costaisí fén Acht Timpeal Toghachán, 1923, agus fé Acht na nGiúrithe, 1927.
That a sum not exceeding £18,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1935, for Expenses under the Electoral Act, 1923, and the Juries Act, 1927.
The provision made in this year is £18,000. It is the same as for the years 1933-34 and 1932-33. For the three preceding years the provision was £19,000. These are statutory payments.
There is one question that I want to ask on this Vote. How far jurors may be convenienced in not being summoned unnecessarily for court cases.
That question does not arise on this Vote. It would arise on the Vote for the Minister for Justice.
I will mention the matter to the Minister for Justice.
I take it this is the Estimate that provides for the expenses incurred in compiling the voters lists every year?
Yes—mainly the expenses for printing incurred by the registration officers generally.
Perhaps I am not in order then in discussing how this work is done?
Only the printing.
The question of how the work is done would arise on the Vote for the Minister for Local Government.
In any case my question might arise in this way. Surely the Minister for Finance would not sanction the payment of £17,000 for printing wrong information. If that amount of public money is going to be spent on printing surely it is necessary to see that the material sent to the printer is correct. I appreciate the difficulty of having it absolutely correct. What I am urging is that it should be reasonably correct and responsibility should be fixed on some public servant to have the information reasonably correct. We all know that it is not reasonably correct. There is no check to see that facilities are offered to voters, or potential voters, to claim their votes within the fixed periods or to object to voters' names going on the register within those periods.
Is this in order?
The payments for which provision is made in this Estimate are all statutory payments necessitated by the Electoral Acts. The administration of these Acts, to which the Deputy is referring, would arise on the Vote for the Minister for Local Government and not on this Vote.
Would the question not arise on the plea that I have made: that the Minister for Finance should not sanction the expenditure of public money for printing wrong information?
That is a question that might be raised on the Vote for the Minister for Local Government.
