Mr. Mark Bassett:

The right to vote in a presidential election is currently restricted to citizens resident in the State, on the basis of a provision of Article 12 of the Constitution. That would have to change. The key point of any constitutional referendum would be to extend the franchise to all citizens, not just those resident in the State, registered as Dáil electors. It would involve breaking the connection between voting in a presidential election and being registered as a Dáil elector. As well as a constitutional amendment, legislative changes would be required to various provisions of the Electoral Acts, which is set out in some detail in the options paper. There would have to be a constitutional referendum.