Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The first part of the Senator's amendment simply states that "Nothing in this Act shall be used to disqualify, prevent, or otherwise impede an Irish citizen who is resident outside the State, from registering his or her will". That is the case under the legislation in any event.

The second part of the amendment seems to be drafted under a misapprehension. If one executes a will in another jurisdiction, it is not a will for the purposes of Irish law but is rather a will for the purposes of the law of the jurisdiction to which it refers. Different jurisdictions have entirely different testamentary arrangements. Some jurisdictions have systems of full registration of wills. Under such systems and in order to be valid, a will must be recorded in a central register. Senator Leyden is not proposing that this should be the case in Ireland.

I am commenting only on the detail of this matter. I do not believe the amendment would be viable in the context of the Bill because it is not clear under the principles of private international law that an Irish citizen can choose a jurisdiction in which a will can be executed.