IT is time to 'bite the bullet' and carry out a major overhaul of the Electoral Register, a local Councillor said this week. Cllr Damien Blake has called on the Minister for Environment to resolve the serious flaws with the system.

He was speaking at Monday night's meeting of Letterkenny Town Council where he called for the control, collating and maintaining of the register to be moved from local authorities to a national body

"This system may have been right 25 years ago but not in today's society where there is such a mobile population. After the experiences we had during the election where people are taken off the register, or not on it at all, it is time for the Department of Environment to bite the bullet and overhaul the system," he said.

"The Electoral Register should be managed nationally as a central register linked to a PPS number. What really drives me mad is that the government already has all this information at their finger tips with Department of Social Welfare or Health Records and it would be easy to put it in a central register. This is not a reflection on the work of the councils but we're spending millions checking the Electoral Register and yet there are still serious flaws," Cllr Blake Cllr Ciaran Brogan said he 'couldn't believe' how bad the Electoral Register was as a result of people either been included or excluded.

The County Manager, Mr Michael McLoone told members there was a review taking place in the county about 'issues' that arose with the Electoral Register and a report would be submitted to the Department of Environment.

"If members want alternative ways of compiling the Register I'd be happy to have them included in the submission," he said.