A PROPOSAL by Fianna Fail to give disabled people a statutory right to adequate polling facilities was referred to a Dail committee.
A Bill was introduced by the party's spokeswoman on disability, Ms Mary Wallace, who said it also provided that people who were unable to go to polling stations because of a disability would have the right to a postal vote.
One of the biggest barriers to participation by the disabled in society was their treatment by electoral law, said Ms Wallace. She did not accept there should be any delay in addressing the issue. The Government had made promises but did not have the funds to deliver them.
Mr Batt O'Keeffe (FF, Cork East) said disabled people had to call out a doctor to certify their disability, at a minimum cost of £20 which few could afford. That must be changed. Most of the disabilities which prevented voting were life long.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Howlin, said the issues raised in the Bill should be referred to a Dail committee. He recognised that changes in electoral law were needed but he did not want the question of access to polling stations to be taken in isolation.
At present, disabled people could have a ballot paper delivered to their homes and could vote under a special presiding officer, accompanied by a garda.
Ms Mairin Quill (PD, Cork North Central) said that referring the Bill to a committee meant a further delay and improvements in voting for the disabled were unlikely to be ready for the next general election. A motion of referral to the Dail Committee on Finance and General Affairs was carried by 69 votes to 59.
