John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue which has been part of many discussions I have had in the Department in the past 12 months. It has been and will be more prominent in the next 12 months. Like a number of Members of both Houses, the Senator has been a strong advocate for extending the franchise in presidential elections to citizens resident outside the State. The Government decided on 7 March 2017 to accept in principle the main recommendation in the fifth report of the Constitutional Convention that citizens resident outside the State, including Northern Ireland, should have the right to vote in presidential elections and that a referendum should be held to amend the Constitution to give effect to that decision. When it was announced by the former Taoiseach in Philadelphia on 12 March 2017, it received a generally positive response from Irish citizens at home and abroad.

Following the announcement, an options paper which had been jointly prepared by the Departments of Housing, Planning and Local Government and Foreign Affairs and Trade, was published on 22 March 2017 to inform public debate on this significant policy change. The paper provided a focus for discussions at a dedicated session on voting rights held at the second Global Irish Civic Forum on 5 May 2017. The forum was attended by a wide range of representatives of Irish organisations abroad, including groups that had been campaigning actively on the issue for a number of years. Senator Billy Lawless has been mentioned in that context. The participants in the forum welcomed the opportunity to have their say and emphasised the positive role the Irish abroad would play in achieving progress on the issue. I understand those present at the forum seemed to have a broad understanding of the importance of due consideration and preparation being given to the option to be chosen and the wording of any amendment to the Constitution to be put to the people in a referendum.There was also a broad acceptance that the legislative and administrative change involved means it will not be possible to have voting from outside the State in place before a presidential election later this year even if a referendum was immediately held and passed .

There was also broad acceptance that the legislative and administrative change involved means that it will not be possible to have voting from outside the State in place before any presidential election later this year even if a referendum is held immediately and passed.

At the forum, the almost unanimous view of participants in regard to which citizens should have the right to vote at presidential elections was that the franchise should be extended to all citizens resident outside the State. There was also broad agreement that the extension of the franchise should not be limited to those who have left Ireland in recent years or within a certain time limit. There was a recognition among those in attendance that introducing a requirement to hold a valid Irish passport would be a reasonable criterion for eligibility. In light of the views expressed at the forum, my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are working methodically and carefully through some of the details that could arise in respect of the various options with a view to bringing a report to Government that will assist in identifying a preferred option to be put to the people in a referendum. Preliminary work has also commenced within the Department on the modernisation of the voter registration process, which will facilitate those eligible to vote to exercise their franchise from outside the State should a referendum be passed by the people in due course.

As the Senator may recall, the Government announced on 26 September 2017 that it has agreed indicative dates for the holding of referendums in 2018 and 2019, subject to the timely passage of constitutional amendment Bills by each House of the Oireachtas. It is intended to hold the proposed referendum on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State on the date of the local and European elections in late May 2019. Against that background, my Department will, in consultation with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, bring forward an appropriate constitutional amendment Bill on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State in good time for the holding of the proposed referendum next year.