Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleagues.

I welcome Ms Nolan and Eimear Ní Bhroin and thank them for their work for the Commission. I have been regularly attending functions and events and they play an active role in the work of the Commission which is appreciated by Members of the Oireachtas. I commend their important schools programme.

In principle, my party is much in favour of this. The first step is the presidential elections. As a first step, that should be cornered. Other than that, there should be voting rights for European citizens in Ireland. European citizens who live and work in Ireland and pay taxes should be given full voting rights, both in constitutional referenda and in elections.

We are doing a bad job in keeping the Register of Electors in Ireland for those who are entitled to vote here. For example, my brother, Joe Leyden, is 54 years on the Register of Electors and his name was taken off it without his knowledge or permission. If that is what is happening in County Roscommon, if that is the lax approach to the Register of Electors in Ireland, how in heaven's name will we arrange a situation where we can record and support Irish citizens abroad, whether in the United States, in New Zealand or in England? It would be practically impossible to keep the register, or the addresses, up to date. There are many practicalities involved.

In principle, Fianna Fáil is fully in favour of voting being granted to Irish citizens abroad. The Constitutional Convention recommendation on the presidential election should be accepted without question because the presidential election is a broad picture. In a tight situation in a general election, it would be difficult to manage votes abroad. Will the candidates have to go to the United Kingdom, France or elsewhere to start campaigning with pockets of votes that are registered there. There are many practicalities which, as the Commission representative stated, can be gone into. It is worth researching.