Minister for the Environment Dick Roche has said he has no plans to extend the November 25th Electoral Register deadline, despite growing concerns amongst Fianna Fáil backbenchers.
The issue will be raised today by TD's at a meeting of the Fianna Fáil parliamentary party attended by Mr Roche.
The Minister told The Irish Times that there is a mechanism whereby individual local authorities can make requests for time extensions, and that as of lunchtime yesterday he had no indication that any local authority was going to make such a request.
Mr Roche reiterated comments made at a Dáil committee last week that he is not convinced there is a need for an extension. But he said if any individual authority applies for an extension he would consider the matter.
It emerged recently that up to 600,000 people who died or moved address have been taken off the register in individual local authority areas.
The Minister said last night he will move to reassure backbenchers at the parliamentary party meeting today.
Both Fine Gael and Labour have appealed for more time to allow citizens to return completed application forms.
Sinn Féin's social affairs spokesman, Deputy Seán Crowe, last night joined the call for an extension of the November 25th deadline, warning that tens of thousands of people, primarily from working class and disadvantaged areas, have disappeared off the electoral register.
Mr Crowe said in west Tallaght 6,543 people of an electorate of approximately 20,000 have disappeared off the register, almost a third. He called for the Government to make publicly available to community groups, residents associations and parties the lists of people who have been deleted to enable activists to try and ensure that those people who have a right to vote, have the opportunity to exercise it.