Billy Lawless (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have great faith that the citizens living in this State want to extend the franchise to their children, cousins and friends living abroad and give them a meaningful role, as well as delivering a clear mandate to our next President, or at the very least the one after that, that he or she represents all Irish citizens at home and abroad. I also acknowledge however, that there are those who will advocate that extending the franchise abroad will provide a disproportionate support for one party or the other; that they may be more established in the United States or the UK, where the majority of Irish emigrants reside. Alternatively, there are those who say that unless one is paying taxes in this country, one should have no entitlement to vote for our president. I believe the spectacle of future presidential candidates travelling abroad canvassing for votes will truly celebrate Ireland's global stature and engage and revitalise an interest in the affairs of our State from those who only want Ireland to prosper and succeed. I do not accept that because one party has stronger footholds in fundraising or other areas that this would put the candidates at a disadvantage.

Voting has nothing to do with taxation. It was introduced in the United States about 300 years ago. Whether a person is taxed on their income or only taxed on the bar of chocolate they purchase, every citizen of the State over 18 years has an entitlement to vote. If anything, extending the franchise to citizens abroad is only likely to boost our tax revenues, as emigrants become more rooted here in their homeland and spend more on journeys home.

I congratulate the initiative taken in 2013, it really started to boost tourism in this country. As members may know, tourism is up 14 % to 15% year on year since then. I will leave one message for the Taoiseach, which is to let the people know precisely how an election abroad would be managed and who would be eligible to vote and let that be an absolute priority for the Government and all other parties as well. This should be communicated to us sooner rather than later and it will allow those of us who passionately care about the issue to make our case.

I congratulate the Taoiseach on his leadership and especially on his negotiations for Brexit. We were all watching that with interest from abroad and the Brexit issue is a major worry. I thank the Taoiseach for being in this Chamber today and for recognising my own position as an emigrant Senator.