§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what additional financial and staff resources will be put in place to ensure the provision of the statutory electoral identity card prior to the elections to the Northern Ireland Assembly on 1 May 2003. [74286]
§ Mr. Desmond Browne£750,000 has already been allocated to provide for the electoral identity card and a member of staff has been seconded from the Northern Ireland Office to act as a project manager in implementing all the requirements of the Electoral Fraud (Northern Ireland) Act.
The arrangements for the production of the card are the responsibility of the Chief Electoral Officer. An advert inviting tenders from experienced and competent service providers for the provision of the card was entered in the Official Journal of the European Community (in line with Government procurement guidelines) on 9 September. Tenders are returnable by 4 November.
The Government is committed to providing those people who require one with an electoral identity card in time for the Assembly election on 1 May 2003. In order to achieve this target the Chief Electoral Officer's staffing and resource requirements will be kept under review.