Over 1,500 fieldworkers called to households nationwide while a new automatic system has been introduced for the deletion of deceased persons.

The campaign is producing remarkable results. Nearly 97.5% of persons aged 18 and over have been placed on the new draft register for 2007/8. About 500,000 names have been deleted; and over 375,000 have been added to it. Ireland's register is now the most accurate in a generation. Yes, there will be errors in a list of over 3m people, but they can be corrected.

The Sunday Tribunewas right to highlight the accuracy problems. However, the paper's rush to judgement on the new register was premature. It was based on incomplete information and some questionable maths! The newspaper should have waited until the full picture emerged. Statistics compiled by my department show that there are 3,054,442 voters on the draft register. This compares with an estimated population of 3,135,151 adults in the state . . . based on the 2006 census. Given that there is still time to make further improvements to the draft, I consider that this is a remarkable outcome. The hard work that has been done must be acknowledged.

There are local variations in the registration levels. All the major urban areas are below the national average and most rural areas are above it. There are reasons for this including the more mobile and diverse population in cities, the difficulty of accessing apartment buildings, the affinity of people with rural roots who wish keep their vote at home and indeed, weaker community links in major urban areas.

Public interest in the registration process is at its highest level in living memory as a result of all the registration campaigning. And it is important that the public play their part. That's why I put in place a major national advertising campaign and an innovative new central website . . .

www. checktheregister. ie . . . which allows people to check if their registration details were also provided.

There was no alternative to this approach in the short term.

There were suggestions of using the PPS number system or the census. However the PPS system holds over 5m numbers and does not necessarily capture voter residence. The census is mandatory requirement on all citizens. It is subject to a seal of confidentiality between the state and the citizen which cannot casually be legislated away after the event. While superficially attractive these suggestions would not have worked, at least not in the short term.

The process is not yet finished. The debate on the register over the past week has been useful in highlighting the need to check the draft register before 25 November. I would urge everyone to do so now, online at www. checktheregister. ie or in council offices, public libraries, post offices and garda stations. And of course the supplementary register will continue to be available until just 15 days before the next election.