I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."
I wish to share my time with Deputies Moffatt, McDaid and Batt O'Keeffe.
Over the last year I have had extensive contacts on a wide range of issues with disability organisations and people with disabilities. One of the consistent themes which they have articulated to me again and again is their powerful sense of being marginalised within the official agenda of this State. The causes of this go beyond the day to day problems faced as a result of the under-funding and inflexible policies which are so much part of official action; they extend to the myriad obstacles faced by people with disabilities when they attempt to participate as full citizens in the public life of the State. Fianna Fáil has addressed these issues in our recently launched policy document Meeting the Challenge of Equality, the most comprehensive document on disability ever issued by an Irish political party.
One of the more obvious of the barriers to participation faced by people with disabilities is the way in which our electoral system treats them as special cases for separate treatment. It is overcoming the exclusion and marginalisation caused in this fundamental area and meeting the need for immediate statutory action that this Bill is designed to achieve.
Since the Bill was published last year, I have received letters of support from the major organisations which represent the people with disabilities affected by the failures of the current system. They have told me that they support the Bill's passage and believe it merits cross-party backing. In addition, I am aware that representatives of some of these organisations have also written to members of the Government asking them to support the Bill.
Over the last decade and a half this issue has been raised at official level on many occasions. One aspect of this is that whenever electoral matters are being discussed in this House Deputies make reference to the lack of accessible polling provision and the unfair discrimination this causes. During the recent Second Stage debate on the Electoral Bill, Deputies from all parties called for action on this.
I have no doubt that at some stage every Deputy has become aware of constituents who have been denied their right to participate in the electoral process on the same basis as the rest of the community. It is no less than scandalous that such a fundamental right continues to be denied to many of our citizens.
The practical basis of our electoral system is that democracy starts at the ballot box, yet we compromise this by placing ballot boxes in buildings and rooms to which large numbers of voters cannot gain access. It is simply not good enough to say that there are alternative means available for casting a vote. This is a classic example of where a disability is created for the individual which would not exist if proper consideration were given to simple requirements.
In bringing forward this Bill, Fianna Fáil is saying that we must not allow another election or referendum to take place under the current discredited and discriminatory system.
The two basic principles of the Bill are that people should not be denied the right to vote at their local polling station with the rest of their community simply because they cannot walk and that people who cannot go to their local polling station because of physical disability or illness should be treated equally with other categories of voters who have postal votes extended to them. The Bill employs a range of new provisions to ensure that these principles will be met in practice.
I would like to, first, outline the full nature of the failure of the current system to include people with disabilities in the electoral process on an equal basis with the rest of the community, second, to explain how the provisions of the Bill would work to meet the Bill's objectives, and, third, to explain why these problems must be addressed by statute rather than regulation, as suggested previously by the Minister.
A central element of our electoral system requires those who wish to vote to present themselves at an allocated polling station near their home. The system of establishing where polling stations shall be sited is carried out by the local authority on a very infrequent basis. Polling schemes, drafted by local authorities in accordance with the Electoral Act, 1992, are submitted once every ten years to the Department of the Environment. In answer to a question I tabled last year, Minister Howlin stated that only two polling schemes were under review. In practice, polling stations remain where they have always been and reviews cover only the impact of population and boundary changes. As a result buildings which fail to meet the needs of all voters continue to be used purely on the basis of tradition.
The Minister informed me in response to another question that neither he nor his Department is in a position to say how many polling stations are accessible to wheelchair users. A survey of polling stations in Britain showed that almost 80 per cent were inaccessible and there is little reason to believe conditions are significantly different here. The Minister said that returning officers have been requested to make special arrangements to overcome small barriers and that guidelines had been issued on the subject. Following the divorce referendum, it was confirmed to me that this piecemeal approach has not had any major effect and that many people with disabilities continue to be unable to gain access to their local polling station.
For these people the law has responded; they can vote somewhere else or stay at home and vote. This is a classic case of perpetuating the idea that separate provision is all right, but it is not. If voting with one's local community is the established norm, then this must include all members of the community. That said, even the right to apply to vote at another station is often-times merely academic because time limits are too restrictive and information on accessibility is difficult to come by.
The special voters system requires that a person who, through physical disability or illness, is unable to attend at a polling station can vote at home. Having applied for entry onto the list, the voters are called some days before polling by a presiding officer and a garda who supervise them voting. This system was introduced by the Tánaiste in 1986 when Minister for the Environment. In introducing this system, the then Minister and his Department ignored the report of a working party into the register of electors which had specifically recommended postal votes for people with physical disabilities and rejected the Department's warning that there is an undue risk of personation by allowing postal votes.
The most offensive part of the special voters system — the requirement that those applying for registration produce a statement of their sanity signed by a doctor — was removed by Fianna Fáil in the 1992 Electoral Act. However, this reform does not go far enough, the system needs to be abolished. I have heard consistent reports from people registered under the system that it is always intrusive and often intimidating. In addition, the distinct nature of the system implies that people with disabilities are somehow less trustworthy than others who are allowed full postal votes. Full postal voting includes members of the security forces and the 50,000 graduates of the universities who vote in Seanad elections.
The antipathy felt by people with disabilities towards the special voters system can be seen by the fact that registrations on the special voters list have been falling by 350 per annum. Last year only 3,293 people chose to register as special voters. The total number be eligible to register is uncertain as the Government has no accurate estimates of the number of people with disabilities and the extent of their disabilities. Evidence suggests that the numbers who choose to register are no more than one third of those eligible. The special voters system also costs the State money in comparison with normal postal voting. Replies to parliamentary questions have shown that the special voters system costs roughly £9 per person to administer compared with only £3 per person for postal voting.
I wish to explain the detailed proposals contained in the Bill to address these problems. Part II deals with the accessibility of polling stations. The key principle contained here is that if an accessible building is available it should be used in preference to an in-accessible one. Further, a duty is placed on local authorities to search for such buildings and consult the public. The specific mechanism used is through reforming the system of drawing up polling schemes and obliging returning officers to place stations in accessible places where the polling scheme permits.
Section 3 requires local authorities to make a polling scheme every five years rather than the current once every ten years. In making their polling schemes they would be obliged to appoint as polling places, where possible, only such places as would allow access to wheelchair users. In all cases where they do not appoint an accessible place, they would be obliged to state their reasons for not doing so. In addition, the public would be invited to make submissions in respect of the scheme. This particular provision would potentially benefit the entire community by giving them a voice in the selection of the most appropriate place in their area to site a polling station. Finally, the Minister for the Environment would be empowered to oblige local authorities to redraft their polling schemes where he considers inadequate provision has been made to allow for access. These provisions would lead to a considerable extension in the number of accessible stations throughout the country. However, there will continue to be areas where there are no accessible public buildings. This Bill does not seek by itself to require the wholesale alteration of buildings, desirable as this may be; instead it simply says, if there is a suitable building available one must use it.
Under section 4 returning officers would be obliged, where possible, to locate polling stations only in places which are accessible to wheelchair users. They would also be required to provide such arrangements in polling stations as would serve to facilitate the marking and placing in the ballot box of ballot papers by voters who are wheelchair users. This provision would give a statutory basis to the current general guidelines issued to presiding officers in relation to providing a low table and placing the ballot box on the floor.
Sections 5, 6 and 7 would reduce the final application date required from those seeking to vote at a polling station other than that to which they have been assigned from seven days to five before polling day. In conjunction with latter proposals relating to the polling information card, this would give people a practical chance to avail of this second best option.
Even with accessible polling stations there will continue to be people who are unable to vote in person due to physical illness or disability. Because of this, some form of alternative voting arrangements will continue to be required.
The proposals contained in Part III would abolish the special voters list and extend postal voting to people who are unable to vote at a polling station as a result of physical disability or illness. This specific reform would bring our electoral facilities into line with many other countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Britain. The current system of registration would be maintained, including the current set registration dates. While there is definitely room for reform in this and other areas, such as provision for the visually impaired, the Bill seeks to avoid more general issues which should be dealt with through a wider Bill.
In order to impress the seriousness with which any abuses of the system are viewed upon all those who come into contact with postal votes, section 8 also includes a provision that the form of receipt specified in the 1992 Electoral Act includes a statement of the offences and penalties which relate to postal voting. In addition, Part IV would deal with a seeming omission in the current legislation and require persons present, while a postal voter is voting, to maintain the secrecy of the ballot.
In addition to the basic proposals concerning the location of polling stations and the extension of postal voting, the Bill deals with certain other, related matters. It is surely reasonable that people with disabilities be given the right to have the same access to counts as everybody else. For this reason section 8 proposes to require returning officers to appoint as counting centres only places which are accessible to wheelchair users.
Section 13 relates to the accessibility of polling stations but this time refers to the availability of information. It would require that the polling card sent to each voter state clearly if the polling station to which they have been assigned is not accessible. In addition, the polling card would have to inform voters assigned to inaccessible stations that they have the right to apply to vote at another station if personally affected by this inaccessibility. The final part of this section would require that the polling card be delivered not less than seven days before polling day instead of the current three. This would give voters affected by the inaccessibility of their station a practical opportunity to apply to vote elsewhere in an accessible building.
Section 14 is a temporary provision which would allow those registered on the special voters list at the time of the Bill's enactment to be entered on the postal voters list until such time as a new postal voters list shall have been compiled in accordance with the existing timetable. This would ensure that there was no delay in sweeping away the present system.
The need for action on this issue is obvious to all. However, the Minister has previously stated that he feels the key issues affecting accessibility can be best dealt with on an administrative level. I disagree. Such previous administrative action, as I have pointed out, has had no systematic impact. It is surely reasonable that the law of the land protect and promote the right of all citizens to equal access to the electoral process. Such rights should not be based merely on ministerial regulation and administrative whim.
I remind the Minister that this matter has been taken as far as the Supreme Court. In its judgment the court clearly stressed that it is the responsibility of the Oireachtas to enact legislation facilitating the citizen's right to vote. This said, there are issues involved in accessibility which can only be dealt with by statute. The proposed alteration to the polling scheme process, the obligation to consult the public, the changes to polling card delivery dates, the obligation to use accessible count centres and, most important, the extension of normal postal voting, all require legislation. Piecemeal regulation and occasional leaflets will not address the fundamental issues at hand.
In relation to postal voting, I hope the Minister will not produce the ancient and discredited claim that there was widespread abuse under the postal voting system operated for local elections until 1986. I would like him to explain how he can separate people with disabilities from public servants and university graduates as being uniquely untrustworthy when it comes to postal voting.
In his amendment the Minister proposes to refer the issues addressed in the Bill to the Select Committee on Finance and General Affairs. For a variety of reasons we reject this idea. The issues are clear and the remedies obvious. If the Government believes it can improve the provisions of this Bill, then it should produce amendments on Committee Stage. I have already received suggestions on a number of possible amendments and have no doubt the Bill can be further improved. However, this is no excuse for delaying action. In addition, when the Select Committee on Finance and General Affairs has had time to consider these issues, in the midst of its deliberations on the Finance Bill, the massive delays in producing Government legislation would inevitably mean that elections and referenda would continue to be held under the current system.
The Minister should also take into account that this Government has undertaken a wide range of promises on disability issues. The overwhelming majority of these promises have not been met and a large number of legislative, financial and administrative proposals have been delayed or side-tracked. Particularly in the light of the imminent report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities, the time has come for the Government to turn rhetoric into action. This Bill gives a perfect opportunity to do something about promoting equality for people with disabilities; if the Government fails to support the Bill's proposals it will seriously call into question its commitment to action in other more difficult areas.
In publishing this Bill, Fianna Fáil is saying that the widespread marginalisation of disabled voters within the electoral system must be challenged and we are providing some practical means for beginning to meet this challenge. It is not a complex Bill but it addresses a fundamental issue and commands widespread support among those affected by the current discriminatory system. It is a reasonable response to an important issue and I call on the Government to support it.