County and city councils are planning to hire temporary staff as part of a nationwide blitz in the coming months to update the electoral register amid ongoing concerns about its accuracy.
Details of the plan were finalised at a meeting in Dublin yesterday between representatives of local authorities and senior officials from the Department of the Environment.
The plan, which will be announced later this week, will not involve the use of database information on households held by An Post, the ESB or other organisations as mooted by Minister for the Environment Dick Roche.
Instead it proposes the use of the existing local authority register system and staff, coupled with additional temporary staff, to carry out door-to-door inquiries to update the register in time for the next draft electoral register, which will be published in November.
Mr Roche yesterday criticised local authorities for failing to keep the register up to date. County managers are responsible for the voter list. Mr Roche had proposed using information already collected by organisations such as the ESB as a basis for the updated register.
However, local authorities have been advised that such a move could breach electoral and data protection laws.
The legal problems were identified by the Office for Local Authority Management, which drew up this latest plan having worked for the past two years on measures to improve the accuracy of the register.
The office is a State-funded body which acts as a research organisation and advisory body to local authority managers and the Government.
It has advised that no one is legally required to register as a voter. Therefore, automatic inclusion on the register, without the person's consent, through data held by third parties such as An Post or the ESB, could be illegal.
It has also warned about the use of such databases in relation to the Data Protection Act, which stipulates that personal information can only be used by an organisation for the purposes it was collected.
Office for Local Authority Management director Anne O'Keeffe said the existing local authority electoral registration system would be used as a basis for the plan.
"The local authority system sees the importance of this task," she said. "It also inherently understands the issue . . . and intends to deliver [ the updated register]."
The Irish Times understands that the office is also examining the potential use of the PPS number system and sharing of information electronically to prevent double registration.