Roche vowed that there would be "good, strong, tough, election-day detection" measures in place next year and there would be no repeat of the 2002 general election when guidelines that one-in-four voters should be asked for ID were not observed.

There are concerns that there are still too many people on the electoral register in many areas, leaving open the potential for electoral fraud.

The minister said it was understandable that polling officials had been reluctant to challenge those whom they might have had suspicions about.

But, he added, in areas where there are any suspicions about the numbers on the register, "We need to put in people who are not frightened to aggressively challenge [where necessary]."

Meanwhile, Fine Gael's Gay Mitchell is the latest high-profile politician to reveal that he was taken off the register. He sent off the form to his local council declaring that there were two Gabriel Mitchells at his address . . . the TD's son is also called Gabriel . . . but when he checked the draft register on the internet only his son's name appeared. After raising the issue, Mitchell's name was restored.