Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will follow up slightly later on the Minister of State’s answer to Deputy Ó Broin. It is important to establish the status of what the Minister of State called the cold storage MEPs. We might come up with a better description, such as "deemed elected MEPs". That status has not yet been decided among the 14 member states affected. Do we have any idea of a timeframe for the decision on that status? It must be done before the European elections are held. The Minister of State may have some idea as to the timeframe or what the plans are for that agreement to be reached. It is important to know that. I will not go over the questions the Minister of State has answered as best he can. Where is the cut-off for the length of the extension granted to the UK? If the extension is longer than six months or a year, when will Britain actually have to hold European elections under the current EU treaties? Is it if the extension goes past 1 July? Must elections then be held? That is the answer I am seeking.

I am also curious about the answer the Minister of State gave to Deputy Ó Broin. The Minister of State referred to anyone with an entitlement to citizenship, but not holding it, having a right to vote. I think that is the answer the Minister of State has given and I do not think that is correct. I refer to a person with an entitlement to vote or an entitlement to citizenship. Taking what we are doing in this Bill as an example, let us consider a British citizen who has lived in Ireland for more than five years or is married to an Irish citizen. That person would have an entitlement to apply for citizenship. The Minister of State’s answer is, however, incorrect because that person would not have an entitlement to vote. Even though a person may have an entitlement to citizenship, that does not mean that he or she actually has citizenship. I do not think the example of someone having a passport is relevant this context. That is a separate issue and different from an Irish citizen who has a vote but not a passport. I would like the Minister of State to clarify that issue. The answer he gave suggests to me that a British citizen or subject who has been living here for more than five years or is married to an Irish citizen is, by extension, allowed to vote, even though he or she has not applied for Irish citizenship and, through that, European citizenship.

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