(Cavan-Monaghan) asked the Minister for the Environment if he will amend the regulations regarding claims and objections to the draft register of electors to provide that these can be made between April and September instead of December and early January which is a very inconvenient time of the year for this activity.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Draft Register of Electors.
15.
The present timetable in relation to the preparation of the register of electors was drawn up 15 years ago on the advice of an all-party committee. I am not aware of any general dissatisfaction with these dates and there are no proposals at present to change them.
Could I ask the Minister to accept that, although there may not be general dissatisfaction—particularly on that side of the House— with the difficulties of checking the register, there may be a case for looking at the possibility of having a look at this register in the summer when the weather may be more favourable than the present conditions? It makes it very difficult for people genuinely interested in ensuring the maximum vote.
I would not agree, because the date for registration is 15 September and the date for publication of the new register is 15 April. That is as near as one can go to the date of publication of the final register. The revision takes place in early February so that final corrections are made very near the date of final publication. If the register is reviewed in early summer it will not be as updated or as near correct as it would be if it is done near the time of publication.
Are not all these dates arbitrary? There may be something in this I do not understand, but is it not a fact that all these dates are arbitrary and that there is nothing sacred about any of them?
They were fixed under the Act of 1963. These dates were set out in that Act.
I want to ask this question in support of Deputy Keating's very sensible point. Would the Minister not agree that, even though—as is of course the case—these dates are specified by law, there is nothing specially sacred about any of them, that they could be changed in such a way as to permit the checking of the register to be done at a time of the year when darkness does not close in at 5 o'clock in the afternoon?
There is no means by which one can start checking the register until after 15 September, which is the date set out. There is no point in checking a register in early summer if you cannot make changes until 15 September.
Could the April date not be changed?
Are Deputies over there suggesting a Barrett-mander?
The April date is the more suitable one to finalise the register because most elections in the past have taken place in the summer period, when local elections have also taken place. Therefore the April date is a more convenient and better date than a later one.
Surely February is the worst possible month to be checking.