Frank Feighan (Sligo-Leitrim, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank my good friend and colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, for raising this important issue. He raised it on many occasions during my time in the Seanad.

In response to the evolving needs of Irish society and its relationship with the wider Irish diaspora, the previous Government agreed in March 2017 to accept in principle the main recommendation in the fifth report of the Convention on the Constitution that Irish 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 seek to amend the Constitution to give effect to this.

To inform public discourse on this significant policy change, on 22 March 2017, an options paper was jointly published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The options paper set out a broad range of options for the extension of voting rights, international comparisons, the estimated costs involved and related resource issues as well as many of the legal, policy, administrative and logistical challenges associated with extending voting rights to Irish citizens resident outside the State. The options paper provided a basis for the discussion on voting rights, which took place at the Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin on 5 May 2017. It remains available to view or download on the Government's website.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Foreign Affairs have continued to work closely on this issue, and on 16 September 2019, the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 was initiated in Dáil Éireann by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this important issue. The Bill provides for amendments to Article 12 of the Constitution which, if passed by the people in a referendum, would extend the right to vote for the Office of President to all citizens, irrespective of where they may reside, for elections held on or after 1 January 2025, which would be the beginning of the year in which the next scheduled election for the Office of President would fall due.

The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future commits to holding a referendum on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside of the State. While the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 lapsed with the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil Éireann, in support of the Government commitment, the Bill was restored to the Dáil Order Paper in the summer of 2020. The restoration of the Bill will also support the commitment in Global Ireland: Ireland's Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025, published by the Department of Foreign Affairs on 19 November 2020, to hold a referendum on this matter. When the Bill, which is sponsored by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, is passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, section 10 of the Referendum Act 1994 requires the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to make an order appointing the day upon which the poll for the proposed referendum will take place. The Act provides that the polling day shall be not less than 30 days and not more than 90 days after the date of the order.

I again thank Senator Ó Donnghaile for raising this issue. It is one he has championed over the years, and I thank him for that.