Ms Fiona Quinn:

I thank the committee for inviting departmental officials to appear this morning. We welcome the opportunity to engage with the committee on its scrutiny of the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Voting) Bill 2014 which proposes to amend the Constitution to extend the franchise in presidential elections to all Irish citizens who have reached the aged of 16 years. I am accompanied this morning by Ms Ríona Ní Fhlanghaile, Mr. Paris Beausang and Mr. Michael O'Connor, colleagues from the franchise section within the Department, and by Ms Caitríona Ingoldsby from the so-called Irish abroad unit within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Our Department has worked closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on the Government's proposals to extend the franchise at presidential elections. This morning's discussions represent a timely opportunity to set out the Government's position on the issue generally and on the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Voting) Bill 2014 in particular.

The Bill was first introduced in Dáil Éireann on 11 March 2014 in response to the fifth report of the Constitutional Convention which was submitted to the Oireachtas in November 2013. While the previous Government did not oppose the Bill on Second Stage in the Dáil in March 2015, it was made clear that a full and considered analysis of the policy and practical issues which might arise from its implementation should be undertaken before it progressed through further Stages of the legislative process. In the committee's letter of invitation, the Department was asked to identify the Government's position on the Bill and any constitutional, legal, policy or technical issues of relevance to it. While these were set out to some extent on Second Stage in 2015, matters have progressed a great deal since then. In essence, the legal, policy and technical issues arising from the extension of the franchise in presidential elections are set out in the Government's March 2017 options paper on voting in presidential elections by citizens resident outside the State.

On 7 March 2017, the Government decided to accept in principle the main recommendation in the fifth report of the Constitutional Convention that Irish citizens resident outside the State, including citizens resident in Northern Ireland, should have the right to vote in presidential elections and that a referendum should be held to amend the Constitution to give effect to this proposal. The decision was announced by the Taoiseach in Philadelphia on 12 March 2017. I understand it received a generally positive response from Irish citizens resident outside the State and was broadly welcomed at home. The options paper prepared by our Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was published on 22 March 2017 to inform public debate on this significant policy change. The options paper provided a focus for discussions at a dedicated session on voting rights held at the second Global Irish Civic Forum on 5 May this year.

The forum brought together more than 230 representatives of Irish community organisations across the world to discuss a broad range of issues affecting the diaspora over two days in Dublin Castle last month.

The Government's policy statement, Global Irish: Ireland's Diaspora Policy, published in March 2015, acknowledges the unique and important role of the Irish diaspora and recognises that an extension of voting rights to Irish citizens outside the State would allow such citizens to play a more active role in the future shape of Irish society, while also preserving and deepening their engagement with Ireland and Irish affairs. While accepting that an extension of the franchise would be welcomed by many in the Irish diaspora, the policy statement equally acknowledged that there was a broad range of policy, legal and practical issues that needed analysis before the matter could be considered further by Government. Against this background, the options paper published in late March of this year sets out seven possible options on the question of which citizens outside the State should be given the right to vote and on how such a change might be implemented if approved in a referendum by the people.

During the debates at the Convention on the Constitution, the question was raised as to whether a referendum would be necessary. The options paper is quite clear that a constitutional referendum would be required to extend voting rights at presidential elections to citizens resident outside the State. Sections 1.2 and 5 of the options paper address some of the legal concerns that may arise from proposals to extend the franchise at presidential elections to citizens outside the State. For example, the text of any amendment would need to be explicit as to which citizens would have the right to vote. An amendment to Article 12.3.3° of the Constitution, which sets a 60-day timescale for the holding of a presidential election, may be necessary. Best practice would also suggest that an electoral amendment Bill or at the very least the heads of a Bill should be published before holding a referendum. Such a Bill would clearly set out for the information of the people the changes that would be made to the electoral Acts to facilitate implementation in the event of a referendum being passed. Other fundamental issues addressed in the options paper are modernising the register of electors and the establishment of an electoral commission in section 3, the method of voting for an extended franchise in section 4 and the costs arising in section 6, including for the taking of a poll and the counting of votes with an extended franchise.

A lot has happened since the Thirty-Fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Voting) Bill was introduced in 2014. While the Government has no proposals at this point to reduce the voting age at presidential elections to 16 years, it has signalled its commitment to the holding of a referendum to extend the franchise at presidential elections to all Irish citizens outside the State, including citizens in Northern Ireland. The question of reducing the voting age is considered to be a fundamental question in its own right, which should perhaps be considered separately in the context of all elections rather than for presidential elections only.

I thank members for their attention. My colleagues and I are happy to answer any questions.