Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There was obviously a very full discussion in the Seanad yesterday on this topic. The first point I want to make is that we are committed to progressing this issue and the Minister, Deputy Coveney, is committed to it, as he made very clear in his Seanad speech yesterday, in which he outlined in detail the range of issues that need to be considered before the Government moves forward on this. It is not stalling, it is about having a detailed examination of the range of issues that arise in the context of extending this franchise.

That is what was presented very clearly to Senators during the course of the debate yesterday. There are 3.5 million people outside of Ireland with an Irish passport but there are 70 million in the Irish diaspora who have an interest in this issue. There are considerable practical implications to extending the franchise. That said, the Constitutional Convention recommended this and the Government is committed to furthering the proposal.

Yesterday the Minister of State explained that an options paper would be prepared, outlining the best approach to this in the context of all of the practical considerations that need to examined. Even an initial glance at this shows that extending the franchise has huge implications in terms of the practicalities, how it would work, the relationship to people in different countries and so forth. An options paper is being prepared and will be presented to Cabinet in January. That will ensure there is significant impetus to the work that the Minister of State has been engaged in on this issue. Important work is being done in terms of analysing the various issues arising from extending the franchise to a broader group around the world.

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