Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Ó Donnghaile for giving me an opportunity to address the Seanad on the important matter of voting rights. I believe it is of interest to all Members of the House. Earlier this month, the Government reviewed the progress of Bills to amend the Constitution and decided that subject to the passage of the necessary constitutional amendment Bills, two referendums will be held on the same day as the local and European elections, which are due to take place between 23 and 26 May 2019. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, in consultation with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, is continuing to make progress with the work needed to inform the development of an appropriate constitutional amendment Bill for the holding of a referendum on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State.

As the Senator will recall, 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 citizens resident in Northern Ireland, should have the right to vote at presidential elections and that a referendum would be held to amend the Constitution to give effect to this. Following this announcement, an options paper which was jointly prepared by the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Housing, Planning and Local Government was published on 22 March 2017 to inform public debate on this significant policy change. The options paper set out a broad range of options that are available to give effect to the possible extension of voting rights at presidential elections. It examined the key operational issues involved, including voter registration, the methods of voting, the implications for the administration of presidential elections and the estimated costs associated with an extended franchise. The options paper considered seven possible options for the extension of the franchise. It considered whether it should be extended to all citizens resident outside the State, to citizens who have a period of time living in the State, to citizens who have left the State within a defined period of time, to citizens who were previously on the register of electors, to citizens who hold valid Irish passports, to citizens born on the island of Ireland or to citizens who have lived in Ireland for at least one year.

The options paper provided a focus for discussions at a dedicated session on voting rights that was held at the second Global Irish Civic Forum on 5 May 2017. When the participants at the forum considered the seven options, their almost unanimous view was that the franchise should be extended to all citizens resident outside the State. In addition, there was a strong view that an extension of the franchise should not be restricted by time, prior residence in the State or previous registration in the State. Against this background, the next step will involve bringing proposals to the Government early in the new year on the question of to whom, in particular, the vote should be extended. Ultimately, this will inform the drafting of the constitutional amendment Bill. When the Bill has been published in the Dáil, the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government will need to establish a referendum commission, which will need to have enough time to carry out its functions. Previous commissions have recommended that a period of approximately 16 weeks is appropriate to enable the statutory functions involved to be undertaken satisfactorily. In this regard, it should be noted that a referendum commission cannot be established until a constitutional amendment Bill has been initiated. In broad terms, this means the Bill should be drafted and published approximately four months prior to the holding of the referendum, with a good proportion of that period being between the passage of the Bill and polling day.