Electoral register described as 'beyond redemption'

The current electoral register process is "beyond redemption", an Oireachtas committee chairman has said.

Séan Fleming, chairman of the Joint Committee on the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, said he had "zero confidence" in the ability or the willingness of local authorities to carry out the function of updating the electoral register.

Mr Fleming said keeping the register up to date was not a core function of local authorities. They were not interested in doing it, it was often done on an "ad hoc" basis, and was not taken sufficiently seriously by them.

Other deputies on the committee from all sides were scathing of the electoral register system which caused a lot of controversy in the run-up to May's general election.

The new secretary general of the Department of the Environment, Geraldine Tallon, said the campaign to update the 2007/8 register was the "most extensive" ever.

She said it involved 1,500 fieldworkers visiting 1.25 million households.