Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I rise to seek a debate on a particular issue. I am the Chairman of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee. Perhaps something the Leader would consider is the area of support for votes for the diaspora - people who have gone abroad. This is a big issue. I see it as a precursor to any constitutional or legislative amendment to the workings of the House. It was one of the prime issues brought up recently.

We must seriously look at this issue. I have grand-nephews in their teenage years who have Irish passports. I come from a family where eight of the 11 emigrated at one stage or another. Do we allow people who emigrated in the 1940s, 50s and 60s to have a vote in this country? What do we do with the 60,000 undocumented Irish in America? Logistically, how can they present themselves to vote? That is an ongoing festering sore I have spoken on many times.

How do we construct a register of the diaspora, whether they are in Australia, Europe, America or South America? We must look at this realistically. I raised this in the House on a previous occasion and somehow the media got the notion that I was kicking for touch. What are the cost implications in allowing the diaspora to vote? If someone is gone for 20 years and has set up home in Canada, New York, Sydney, Perth or Italy and has decided to stay there, who has the choice? How do we do that?

This is a major area. We all say it is great to give the diaspora a vote, but where do we draw the line? There is the question of the logistics and the costs involved. I believe it would be a worthwhile exercise by the Seanad Public Consultation Committee to look at all these issues and see where we are going. I am making this suggestion. It is something I would very much like to see happen. Some of my older sisters in America are so immersed in their work - they are American citizens and they have children there - that they do not need or want to vote. How do we draw the line? Where do we draw the line?

When we come back in September this is something we could usefully have a look at until Christmas, if it was possible. It would be a worthwhile exercise for this House and for the diaspora. Perhaps it is something the members of the Seanad Public Consultation Committee could pin their hats on. I have serious views on it. My gut feeling is that we must reach out to the diaspora, particularly with a view to reform of the Seanad. The questions include how we do it logistically, the costs involved and where we draw the line. If a youngster or teenager in New York, whose grandmother or grandfather came from Ireland, has an Irish passport, do we allow such people to vote? These are serious questions. It is a major issue and it is certainly worth looking at from an investigative point of view, including the costs and logistics and so on.