502 Mr. Spring asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the instructions his Department has issued to local authorities in relation to charging for, and the amount charged for the Register of Electors, both paper and electronic editions, to outgoing Members of the Oireachtas who are standing for re-election; and his views on whether there should be a consistency of approach to this matter. [9447/02]

Under rule 13(4)(c) of the Second Schedule of the Electoral Act, 1992 the registration authority, when publishing the register of electors, shall send a copy to, inter alia, each member of the Dáil for the constituency concerned. No provision is made regarding charging for this copy of the register. In addition, rule 14(4)(a)(ii) states that no fee shall be charged by the registration authority for supplying, in paper or electronic format, at their discretion, one copy of the register to each candidate duly nominated for the constituency at a Dáil election.