The Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has said the electoral register will be updated to ensure everyone who is entitled to vote can have their say in the next General Election.
His comments came after a study carried out on behalf of Fianna Fáil found 17,000 people in the Dublin South East constituency, who are entitled to vote, are not registered.
Mr Roche said it was the responsibility of every citizen to make sure that they are registered to vote.
But the minister also criticised local authorities which, he said, have the responsibility to go door-to-door to register voters.
The survey of almost 1,200 homes by the Trinity College Cumann of Fianna Fáil was supervised by academic staff at the college.
It found that a further 15,000 people who have died or who have moved from the area are still on the register.
The two Fianna Fáil candidates in the constituency, Chris Andrews and Jim O'Callaghan, say this means 44% of voters across Dublin could lose their voting rights because they are not properly registered.
A copy of the study has been forwarded to the City Sheriff for his comment.
