At least 50,000 people would not be able to vote in the referendum on the Northern Ireland Agreement if the Minister for the Environment did not do something about the postal vote problem, said the Leader of the House, Mr Donie Cassidy.
He knew of 70 people in his locality who were experiencing difficulty. These people should be enabled to vote, because this was the most important referendum in the State's history. It was encouraging that most people wanted to participate.
The Minister should make it possible for all those who wish to vote to do so. If this required legislative changes, all senators would support the Minister.
Mr Cassidy undertook to report back to the House today after discussing the matter with Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey.
He was reacting to concerns voiced by Mr Liam Cosgrave (FG) and Mr Pat Gallagher (Lab).
Mr Cosgrave said it should be possible to have a supplementary register for people who wanted to vote or for postal voting purposes.
The referendum was not like a general election, so, where necessary, voters should be enabled to register their preference where it was convenient for them to do so.
Mr Gallagher said the signing of the referendum order, late on Wednesday night, had not given people time to apply for postal votes.