Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has conceded that the electoral register is "a mess" and has urged all Fianna Fáil party workers to check the accuracy of the latest list.
Speaking at the Fianna Fail Ardfheis in Dublin, Mr Roche said: "Everybody knows that our electoral register has become a mess. One commentator suggested that it contained as many as 800,000 errors."
Mr Roche said this year has seen the most comprehensive registration campaign in the history of the State.
"Over one and a quarter million houses have been visited at least once. Hundreds of thousands of houses have had two or more visits. 1,500 field workers have been leading this intensive campaign to put in place a comprehensive and accurate register."
The first draft of the updated register is now available, Mr Roche said, and he urged all party workers to check the draft.
"The efforts to radically reform a woefully inadequate register inevitably mean that some inadvertent deletions have been made. I ask you to use the next 3 weeks to ensure that people who should be on the register remain on the final register.
"This year's campaign is a first step in reviewing the way that registration is carried out in an ever-changing Ireland and I intend to introduce fundamental changes to the way we compile our register in the coming years."
Citizens can check that they are on the draft register on wwww.checktheregister.ie.
Speaking on other issues, Mr Roche defended the Government's record on the environment and said the "inconvenient truth" for the Opposition is that Ireland is well-placed to meeting its targets to cutting greenhouse gas emissions under the so-called Kyoto targets.
There had also been "remarkable progress" on water quality in the lifetime of the Government, the Minister said.
