Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yes. I have read the submissions. First, I am struck by the number of different systems. We have a different system here. The Commission is treading on interesting ground by trying to see how many different countries with many different systems operate. I am most interested in the Spanish system because it seems extremely generous so I shall ask the ambassador a couple of specific questions about the system. He referenced Spanish citizens. Do they have to maintain their citizenship of Spain when they are abroad in order to vote? Reference was made to links with Spain. In other words, must they maintain and hold a Spanish passport?

There is particular scope in Ireland in terms of how open Spain is to allowing people from other European countries to vote in Spain. We have not engaged in that part of the debate here when talking about the Irish diaspora. We, like Spain, have a situation where people can be fourth or fifth generation and consider themselves to be Irish-Americans, for example. I am not sure to what extent they view themselves as more Irish than American and, therefore, one must decide at what point of the graph one is on. This is an extremely difficult issue for Ireland given that we have in America, for example, ten times the population of this island who would claim to be Irish-American. Is it just EU citizens who can vote in Spanish elections? The ambassador defined it, without being flippant or simplistic, that people just had to express an interest and prove they were European. Do they need a residence in Spain? Are other circumstances involved?

The ambassador outlined good statistics on Spanish people voting in European and Spanish elections. Does he have data on the number of people from other European countries who vote? I assume that if people go to the trouble of registering to vote in Spain then the number must be reasonably high.

As the Chairman will know, a lot of us are canvassing at the moment. European citizens can vote in local and European elections but not in a general election here. Spain employs a different system. Go raibh maith agat.