Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It could be argued that emigrants are not engaged in or concerned about what happens in their home country. Of course, Irish emigrants are engaged and want to know what is happening at home and want people for whom they can vote to ensure the economic and social conditions improve in order that they can return. The Constitutional Convention, of which I am a member, approved voting rights for Irish citizens in Presidential elections. There are nine countries that extend voting rights to citizens only in presidential elections. All of these Presidents have serious executive powers. We are talking about giving our citizens abroad a vote in Presidential elections only, a role that is largely ceremonial, with some constitutional responsibilities.

There are three things we need to do: first, we need to examine the proposed legislation tabled by Senator John Crown on how we can reform this House without the need for another referendum. Senators Katherine Zappone and Feargal Quinn also have a Bill and if these two Bills were merged, they could form a platform to move forward without the need for a second referendum on the Seanad. The Leader has set up a Seanad consultation committee which could be the vehicle to bring all of the groups together without having to wait for another to take the leadership role in the process of inviting groups to debate how this Chamber can be changed for the better. Could we consider inviting the JFK School of Government at Harvard University to look at our entire political system, the Dáil, the Seanad and the permanent government which have not been sufficiently scrutinised? I ask the Seanad committee to consider this suggestion.