Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Establishing a new national list constituency if the right to vote was extended to all Irish citizens as required the equal treatment provisions in case law would transform the Irish electoral system. A single list would remove the regional bias which is a crucial part of Irish politics and disenfranchise rural areas, particularly in peripheral parts of the country.

That scenario also raises the question: why should it be limited to the two seats? If the principle is established, proportionality demands that each citizen is treated broadly similarly within reason. Just two MEPs for all non-resident citizens could breach that principle. Even if it was a single Northern Irish constituency, the issue of proportionality would apply. Citizens on the island would be significantly treated differently due to residency, for example, citizens of Cork would have a major representation difference with Northern Ireland citizens.

It is within EU and ECHR law to restrict voting rights based on residential requirements. This is the practice in Ireland and is only currently being reviewed through a popular referendum that is restricted to the presidential election. It would be undemocratic and a dramatic shift for the State to depart from this long established practise in the area of EU Parliament elections given that the electorate as not made a decision on the issue in the upcoming referendum yet. As a result, Fianna Fáil accepts the recommendations today and we will vote in favour of the legislation.