Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies Seán Crowe and Gerry Adams for their presentations. Despite the very positive word from the Taoiseach in the United States and the publication of the Department's consultation paper, I am concerned that it is the first departmental consultation paper I have seen published that does not have a consultation deadline. Normally when we get something from the Department, it tells us that it wants to hear views by a certain point in time. That leads me to be a little suspicious that while the Department is stating all the right things, it is not necessarily treating the matter with the urgency required. One of the values of our having this Bill come through the committee is that we can send a very clear signal to the Minister and the Department that, just as it was supported across parties in the last Dáil, the view of the committee is that it wants it to be progressed as a matter emergency.

Having said that, there is a lot of good content in the consultation paper. It would be useful for members who have not read it to do so because there are many good data contained in it. When one considers the question of to whom the right to vote should be extended and reads the document, one notes that the case to extend the right to vote to all citizens is compelling, although I do not believe that is the intention. First, there is plenty of evidence from other jurisdictions to counter the argument that one would be swamped. Non-resident voting rights are extended in a range of countries. The number outside those states who register to vote is small by comparison with the overall number and the number who vote is smaller again. There is no evidence to suggest the issue of swamping is real. Some who are just against the idea politically have been putting it out to try to frighten people. I do not refer to Deputies or other politicians but to media commentators. I refer to the idea that more people outside the State than inside might vote.