Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is very welcome back, particularly on this important issue of voting rights. Tacaím go hiomlán leis an rún seo inniu a threisíonn an méid a cinntíodh ag an gCoinbhinsiún Bunreachtúil na blianta ó shin. Is cuimhin liom go maith siar i 2011 nuair a bunaíodh an coinbhinsiún go raibh an Rialtas ag caint go hoscailte agus go bródúil faoin mbealach urnua a bhí aige chun na daoine a chur i láthair an phróisis dhaonlathaigh. Ar bhealach, ní fiú tada na hiarrachtaí seo mara bhfuil an Rialtas sásta gníomhú ar na moltaí a thagann astu.

Le déanaí, dúirt Oifig na bPasanna go raibh 700,000 iarratas breise ar phasanna i mbliana. It was recently tweeted by the passport service that 700,000 passports had been issued so far this year. This is the greatest number issued so far, with increases in applications worldwide and especially in the Six Counties, as my colleague Senator Ó Donnghaile has mentioned. Despite this, this issue dates back as long as Irish citizens have emigrated. The argument has returned in waves as emigration has peaked at various periods, most recently with the mass emigration of the 1980s and the efforts that continued right up to the 1990s. Diplomats and serving military are allowed to vote. I heard an tOllamh Piaras Mac Éinrí speak about this issue last week. He was one of the people who, when he worked for the diplomatic corps, wanted to make sure the diplomatic corps would be allowed to vote at that stage.

For 18 months after a citizen has left this country they can vote in referenda. The issue lies in the fact that they must physically return to this island to vote.

Articles 1 and 2 now clearly define an Irish citizen. This means that in order for this motion to be realised, a legislative not a constitutional change is required.

In 1997 the Fianna Fáil manifesto promised to introduce emigrant voting rights by the year 2000. In the 1990s the then Fianna Fáil Government opposed a Private Members' motion that was narrowly defeated. It cited everything from principle to cost, taxation and conflict in the North. I can confidently say that most of the excuses offered in recent years were bogus or have been overcome. Increased communication capabilities mean that every Irish citizen is more than capable of informing himself or herself of the main issues involved from thousands of miles away.

I am Sinn Féin's spokesperson for the diaspora. When I have travelled to places like San Francisco, Toronto or Vancouver I have been amazed to discover that the Irish living in such places are more up to date with politics in Ireland. Some of them know more about what is going on at constituency level than many of the people who live in the constituencies. The first thing that some of these people who live abroad do in the morning is check the RTE news app and local media to see what is going on. To think that people who live thousands of miles away are not in tune with what happens here would be a huge mistake.

We seek to include all of the people in key decision-making. In 1990, during her presidential campaign, Mary Robinson put the following on the record: "The President is elected by the direct voice of the people and represents them. This includes the Irish who are forced to leave in order to get employment." In 1994 when South Africa, having emerged from apartheid, held its first free elections advertisements were placed in newspapers around the world asking South African citizens to register to vote wherever they were located. This election was a watershed one yet my party and I believe that every election is important enough for Irish citizens to have a voice.

The reasons given through the years not to act have been spurious and hide a self-interest. In the 1990s it was estimated that votes for citizens abroad would create between 350,000 and 400,000 extra voters in the US alone if a 20- year rule was imposed. This would have increased the valid poll in 1992 by 15%. It has been said that a tight local control could not be kept on these voters and they might vote on issues of national importance such as the prospect of Irish unity. Another worry was that American voters had a different view of the conflict due to living abroad. Of course they did because at that time they lived in a democracy where there was no State imposed censorship that banned news organisations reporting on the conflict in a way that might be seen to encourage sympathy or support for conflict resolution through unity. These people lived in an area that did not have a section 31 and control over what could be broadcast.

Last week the National Youth Council of Ireland held an interesting seminar in conjunction with UCC. Professor Theresa Reidy spoke at the event and made a number of valid points. For example, the idea that offering the vote to the diaspora abroad will somehow lead to Sinn Féin getting a massive boost in the polls is not borne out. The trends, patterns and percentage of votes cast would mirror what happens at home in a domestic scenario. If Fianna Fáil got 24% of a vote, Fine Gael 25%, Sinn Féin 14%, etc. domestically, studies conducted in the UK and US indicate that it would be the same result in an international vote. The idea that a party would boost its vote if voting rights were given to the diaspora does not stand up to scrutiny.

Another concern is that emigrants may be angry with the establishment and, therefore, may not vote for the Tweedledum and Tweedledee parties. The solution is to create a society in which people can stay and gain employment, and make it attractive to those who want to return.

Faraor, thar na blianta d’fhógair Rialtais éagsúla gur fadhb a bhí ann. Níl a leithéid de thír a bhfuil an oiread céanna dá saoránaigh ag cur fúthú thar lear. Ach ní leor bheith ag glacadh leis go bhfuil fadhb ann. Caithfidh beart a bheith de réir briathair. Fadhb eile ná go mbíodh pairtithe áirithe níos glóraí ar an gceist seo agus iad sa bhfreasúra ná mar a bhí siad agus iad i gcumhacht. Cé go gcuirim fáilte roimh thacú Fhianna Fáil inniu agus tá súil agam go bhfuil siad ag tacú leis an rún, cuirim i gcuimhne dóibh go bhfuil muide i Sinn Féin an-dáiríre faoi seo agus go ndéanfaimid ár ndícheall é seo a chur i bhfeidhm chomh luath agus is féidir. Ní bolscaireacht seo ar chor ar bith. Is beart de réir ár mbriathar é agus is é seo an rud atáimid chun déanamh.

In purely democratic terms I would see it as a healthy development that those citizens with a knowledge of other political systems and other major political issues could bring that to their decision-making in an Irish election. I am sure that diplomats who serve in countries where democracy is weak or non-existent will say how much they value placing their vote abroad. We also know that hundreds of countries across the world afford their citizens votes in presidential elections, general elections and referenda. Such voting rights can be administered in a number of ways. It is not a question of whether this can be done. It is a question of how can this be done, what type of constituency needs to be established, etc. We have an example of how voting can be done in this House. A precedent has been set in the Seanad because the diaspora have voted for members who were elected to the university panels. It is just a matter of extending that principle to all of our citizens.

A lot of talk today has focused on the rights of Irish citizens, specifically those who hold Irish passports. As Sinn Féin's foreign affairs spokesperson in the Seanad I must comment on the abuse of the Irish passport by a foreign state.