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Northern Ireland (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill

In many hours of debate with the Minister, he has never failed to give way, and I appreciate his courtesy. Under clause 3, the chief electoral officer would make "““a recommendation in favour of a canvass being conducted in that year for the purpose of meeting the relevant registration objectives””." Those objectives are listed in clause 4, and one of them is to ensure "““that every person who is entitled to be registered in a register is registered in it””." That is an important reason to request that a canvass should take place, but the Minister is in effect arguing that there may be an overriding reason to prevent that register being accurate.