An Oireachtas committee is to consider compulsory voter-registration in a report it is compiling for the Dáil.
Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes told the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Heritage and Local Government yesterday that voter-registration was already compulsory in the North.
He understood, he said, that failure to register carried a fine of up to £1,000 (€1,337).
"That is not the situation in this jurisdiction and you would want to consider if we should go that further step." Mr Hawkes said there could be "martyrs for the cause" who had something against the State and would refuse to register and pay the fine, and end up in jail. "So there is a whole lot of implications you would have to bear in mind." He suggested that the committee look at the voluntary system as a first option before considering recommending a legal obligation to register.
Mr Hawkes told the committee that those registered as voters in the Republic became liable for jury service and received junk mail.
"Unless you tick a box on the registration form, your data goes on to a central disk which can be sold by local authorities to marketing companies. This is one of the biggest sources of complaint to our office."
Mr Hawkes suggested that the committee deal with this issue in its report, because many people were "slightly scandalised" at the idea that they could receive junk mail when putting their names on the register.
Christy O'Sullivan (FF, Cork South-West) said the register was currently a shambles, adding that compulsory registration was the road to go. "If you make it compulsory to register, it would not be compulsory to vote."
James Bannon (FG, Longford-Westmeath) said the current system of voter-registration was cumbersome and outdated.
