A FineGael frontbench member, Mr Brian Hayes, has called for the general election to be held at a weekend, accusing the Government of holding the abortion referendum mid-week in order to minimise the young vote.
Mr Hayes said yesterday a weekend poll would facilitate not only students but people who travelled on business during the week and those who worked a long day.
There is widespread speculation in political circles that the Taoiseach will set the election date for Thursday, May 9th, although the Tánaiste said on RTÉ Radio's Tonight with Vincent Browne programme on Wednesday that she thought it would take place in mid-May or later in the month.
Mr Hayes said it now appeared certain that the general election would take place in early May in the middle of college exams. "This will make it extremely difficult for third-level students to participate if the election is held on a weekday."
If students were hampered in what would probably be their first opportunity to vote in a general election, "there is a very real risk that they will become even further disillusioned and alienated from politics".
He said the Government could introduce a system of voting on Saturday only, on Friday evening and all day on Saturday, or all day on Saturday and Sunday.
"We need to respond to the actual daily lives as lived by people and design our voting times and arrangements to suit people," he said. There were compelling arguments to hold all elections at weekends.
In a comparison of turnouts in the South Tipperary by-elections that took place 12 months apart during the lifetime of this Dáil, while there was an expectation that the turnout for the second one would fall, it actually rose by 3 per cent, Mr Hayes said. He believed the holding of the second poll on a Saturday could have boosted turnout by 6 to 8 per cent.
"Weekend voting would also have the additional advantage of causing no disruption to national schools," he went on. "This year alone three days will be lost to an already extremely short school year as well as obliging working parents to make alternative arrangements for their children."
He said spreading voting over two days would reduce the impact of adverse weather conditions, which had a negative effect on turnout.