Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is welcome, as always, to the House. Where do I start at this point in time? I will start by welcoming the support from the Labour Party, from the Civil Engagement group and even Senator McDowell. I will address the points the Minister has just made. He is committing to come back to us by the end of the first quarter of 2017, clearly with something substantial and not just with vague wording or a vague idea of what he is going to do, in which case, there is absolutely nothing in our motion that prevents him from supporting it. I will read it out for the Minister just to be clear: "Seanad Éireann calls on the Government to implement the recommendation of the Constitutional Convention to give citizens resident outside the State the right to vote in Presidential elections". The Minister has already told us he is committed to that so there is nothing there to prevent him from supporting the motion. The motions goes on to state "...and to indicate the time frame it envisages for the holding of any related referendum". The Minister can do that, and nothing would stop him from doing that in terms of this motion. This is hugely disappointing. It is really disappointing that the message will go out to our emigrants across the world, and from my accent the Minister can tell that I am one of them, that once again the Government is going to kick the can down the road on this issue. To be frank, I believe that the Department is entirely opposed to this idea and that the Minister knows this. We need to have a frank and honest conversation. The Minister is a nice guy, and in fairness, there is a bit of toing and froing now and again but he needs to have a bit more of an honest conversation around what is happening here.We know what is happening here. We know the Minister is kicking the can down the road and that he has no intention - and I am putting this on the record - of going further. I would be delighted to be proven wrong.