Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is the proposal made by Senator Ó Clochartaigh agreed? Agreed. We wish the group in question the best of luck with the matter.

The next petition is P00044/12 from Mr. Daniel Donovan for the revision of postal ballot rules and P00069/12, which seeks to have current legislation changed to allow Irish citizens who are temporarily based overseas to vote by post from their overseas address. Members were circulated with details of the petitions, which address an important issue for elected representatives and the growing diaspora. Last year, 87,000 people, including 40,000 Irish citizens, emigrated, the highest figure since the 1800s. It is important that we find a means of allowing these individuals to engage with the discourse of society. The experience of those who emigrated in the 1950s and 1980s was that they no longer had any interaction with the State, except where they returned to Ireland, and were forgotten in this country. The infrastructure for political discourse did not draw them in. There is merit in many elements of the petitions. The inaugural meeting of the convention on the constitution will be held on 1 December and a functioning meeting will take place in January 2013. As a preliminary step, it is recommended that the petitions be referred to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government for consideration as the two issues in question fall directly within his remit. Does anyone wish to comment?