Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 14 November 2006
547 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has satisfied himself or has caused any enquiry to be made as to whether for the purpose of the preparations of the Draft Register of Electors each local authority has, as laid out by the Second Schedule of the Electoral Act 1992, made a house to house or other sufficient enquiry in their electoral area. [37907/06]
View answerIn law, the preparation of the Register of Electors is a matter for each local registration authority. It is their duty to ensure, as far as possible and with the cooperation of the public, the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the Register; house to house or other sufficient enquiries must be made for this purpose.
In April 2006, I announced a package of measures to assist local authorities in their work on preparing the 2007/8 Register, which included the use of Census enumerators or other temporary personnel to support local authorities in preparing the Register; over 1,500 personnel were engaged in this work.
In addition, my Department worked with a group of local authority managers and senior officials to put in place an enhanced programme for improving the next Register. Detailed procedures for the carrying out of registration fieldwork were finalised and issued to local authorities in early July. The procedures included provision for ensuring that each household was visited and provided with forms and information at least twice, if necessary. In the event that this process did not satisfactorily register the household, written notification would then be given cautioning of the danger of being omitted from the Register. A person not on the draft register may apply (before 25 November) for inclusion on the final register to be published on 1 February 2007, or may apply for inclusion on the supplement to the register which closes on the fifteenth day before the next polling day.
I also committed to providing additional ring-fenced financial resources to support local authorities' own spending in respect of the register campaign and advised authorities that a contribution of some €6 million can be made available in this regard. An initial allocation of some €3 million, based on the number of households in each local authority area, was made available in July to local authorities for registration work.
As regards publicity and awareness, a two-stage approach has been developed, involving information notices followed by an intensive media campaign. Information notices were published in the national press on 19–21 August, urging co-operation with local register campaigns. In addition, a national publicity and awareness campaign involving TV, radio, press and outdoor advertising commenced on 11 September and will run until 25 November (the closing date for submitting corrections to the Draft Register).
An online register search facility is now available through local authority websites and a central website www.checktheregister.ie is also now available, containing direct links to each local authority's eReg enquiry screen, to facilitate people in checking that they are on the Draft Register.
New arrangements for the deletion of names of deceased persons from the Register are now in place: the new system allows for the efficient and timely deletion of the names of deceased persons from the Register using the Death Event Publication Service which has been developed by Reach in association with the General Register Office.
New guidance for local authorities on Preparing and Maintaining the Register of Electors was made available to authorities in electronic format on 31 May. Printed copies of the guidance were subsequently sent to all local authorities, returning officers and relevant Government Departments. In the final version of the guidance, the importance of local authorities cross-checking the Register with other databases available to them is stressed.
It is internationally acknowledged that electoral registration presents particular difficulties and challenges for electoral authorities. I am satisfied that local authorities have carried out the most extensive registration campaign in decades for the Draft Register 2007/8, with both significant numbers of additions to, and deletions from, the Register.
