I express my gratitude to the staff of the House. I had not anticipated this debate would be called so early. Like everyone else, I had expected a vote at 7.15 p.m. and I was meeting a guest when they managed to contact me. I am grateful for their usual efficiency.
The matter I wish to raise has been advertised in The Irish Times and elsewhere. Regrettably, as a result of human error, a considerable number of electors in my constituency have been disenfranchised. A register is kept in the alumni and Seanad electoral offices and information is gathered on an annual basis. The alumni file is used to generate the Seanad electoral register and contains information such as the name and address of the elector, degrees held by the elector, the year in which the first degree was conferred and the elector’s Seanad electoral number.
Seanad electoral claim forms are routinely given to graduates at their graduation ceremonies. If my recall is correct, I was responsible for introducing this. It used not to be automatically given and graduates had to claim it. I ensured these would be given to graduates automatically as I felt it was in my interest to see the constituency growing. The constituency has grown for a number of years.
Candidates complete the forms and submit them for processing. This is done in a small cramped office by a small and dedicated staff who have done a pretty good job over the years. They first check the eligibility of claimants, they then check the student identification number corresponds to the alumnus ID number, create an electronic file, enter the alumnus ID number into it, and enter the claimant's communications preference — whether they wish to be included in the edition of the register available to the public for commercial use — and then provide the details of the file to the information system in the college with a request to generate the file in order that the Seanad electoral claim flag is populated in the appropriate records. Those are then coded for inclusion in the next publication of the register.
Not later than 31 May this year the Seanad electoral register was published. It is normally published on the weekend preceding 1 June. That is the legally valid register for the election. This year, a situation arose where the person principally responsible had an accident, a file was left on the desk and somebody came in and tidied it away. It was not until the first person returned to the office that she realised something had gone wrong. The reason it was not noticed, because it normally would have been noticed, was that the number of additions in 2006 were 1,361 and they exceeded by 300 the numbers of admissions for the previous year. It appeared, therefore, to be all right. In other words, there was nothing to automatically alert the authorities that something was wrong. They quickly came across the situation, however, realised a regrettable error had been made and did everything they could to rectify it. I understand they took a certain amount of advice, spoke to the Department and came back with the notion that it was not possible. I believe it is possible. The college has said a new system is being put in practice which will be fully operational in 2008. That may be too late for the 700 out of 2,000 people who were left off the register. It would be intolerable to allow the accidental disenfranchisement of one third of those who were entitled.
If the Taoiseach sticks to his guns and does not call the election until the very last moment, they may just squeak on but the register comes out on 1 June and if the election is held in April or earlier, they will not have a vote. Thus the question remains, what is to be done? This is a Legislature. In an extreme situation an emergency Bill could be rushed through each House in half an hour. That is a possibility and I ask the Government to consider everything to enfranchise those people.
Something else can be done for which there is a precedent, to which I draw the Minister of State's attention. In 1997, a similar difficulty arose which was generated by the post office not delivering a large number of ballots. An instrument was unearthed, SI 321 of 1997 — Seanad (University Members) General Election (Special Difficulty) (No. 2) Order, 1997. What is this other than a special difficulty? I am sure the Minister has possession of that statutory instrument and knows what it is about. The statutory instrument states that the Minister, notwithstanding section 21 of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act, 1937 and paragraph 2 of the Seanad (University Members) General Election Order, 1997, can override that and personally, as Minister, direct that those persons should be enfranchised.
I have given the Minister two suggestions. The first should be to resort again, as was done in the past, to a special order of the Minister varying the Bill, powers which he clearly has, to allow these 700 people to vote or, alternatively, provide special legislation. It could be a short Bill which I have no doubt would be passed unopposed in this House. I appeal to the Minister to do that on behalf of my electorate, and as a politician he will understand the urgency of allowing people to vote in the next general election. That is within the power of this Minister and this Government and I ask him to do it.
