Electoral registers lacking consistency, says Gormley

Minister for the Environment John Gormley agreed that inconsistencies in the register of electors would have to be addressed.

He was replying to Ciarán Lynch (Labour, Cork South Central) who referred to "major discrepancies" between the Draft Register of Electors and the census figures.

Agreeing there was a "real inconsistency", Mr Gormley said: "I myself discovered that. Even in the compilation of the register, in whether it is available electronically and how it is conducted, there is little consistency. I agree that it is one for my department in that regard."

He hoped that many of the constructive suggestions being made could be considered in the setting up of the proposed electoral commission under the programme for government. Mr Gormley said that, in law, the preparation of the Register of Electors was currently a matter for each local registration authority, and it was their duty to ensure, as far as possible and with the co-operation of the public, its accuracy and comprehensiveness.

The compilation of the register and the carrying out of the census were different processes with different statutory requirements.

In addition, there were usually significant timing differences between the census and the register, with the census being carried out once every five years and the register being compiled on an annual basis. Therefore, care needed to be taken in making comparisons between the two.

"In working to compile the register for 2007-08, which is currently in force, registration authorities undertook and completed the most extensive registration campaign in decades. On the basis of the work undertaken, the authorities have achieved a significant improvement in the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the register compared to previous years," Mr Gormley said.

Mr Lynch said that the number on the register was still estimated to be 120,000 above the number of voters in the country.

"If we take the recent constituency boundary reports, that amounts to almost five deputies on the basis that 25,000 people are represented by one deputy. Therefore, there are either five too many deputies or five too few deputies, and this must be corrected." The system needed a massive overhaul and a move from household registration to individual registration, and new methods such as the use of PPS numbers, Mr Lynch said.