Ms Fiona Quinn:

It is a skills issue as well. Local authorities hold the registers and have a certain level of information. The registers are done annually, with a new register introduced on 15 February. While local authorities probably have copies of previous registers, it is not necessarily the case that they would have 20 or 30 previous registers. In other words, if someone tries to claim citizenship and attach himself or herself to a certain constituency, there would be many practical issues. One of the other methods that people outside the State can use to claim citizenship is if they are on the foreign births register, which is a paper-based system. It needs to be digitised. The options paper addresses many of these issues.

One of the practical issues with using embassies for registration or voting is location. People who are on the west coast of Australia would have to go to Sydney or Canberra.

The same applies to the United States and the UK. Of course, we have no embassy in Northern Ireland.

From our perspective and having analysed the various options and practical issues, it would seem to us that postal voting would be the most user-friendly approach. Online registration for people around the world would seem to be the only option that will give individuals the opportunity to be involved. If the first experience people have of the extension of the franchise, if accepted in a referendum, was negative, it would dissuade them from continuing to engage the process. From our perspective, if the people decide to extend the franchise for presidential elections, we need to be in a position whereby we are able to make it easy for them and ensure it is a positive experience which will encourage them to participate.