Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I welcome Minister of State at the Departments of the Taoiseach and Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McHugh. While the Minister of State is drawing his breath I will ask Senator Lawless to outline his case.

Billy Lawless (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending today and I also take the opportunity to thank the Taoiseach for announcing a commitment to hold a referendum to allow Irish citizens abroad to vote in Presidential elections. This is an issue which I, along with many other groups, have campaigned for over a number of years and which was recommended by the Constitutional Convention in 2013. Too often in Ireland referenda have become debates about subject matters that have no relationship whatsoever to what the people are being asked to vote on. It is very important that from the outset those of us advocating this change on behalf of Irish citizens living overseas do so armed with the facts, and use the opportunity to not only hold a national conversation about what place Irish citizens living abroad should have in our society, but also what the functions of the office of Uachtarán na hÉireann exactly are.

The President is a symbolic figure, but symbolism matters even more so for those citizens of this State who are Irish, who love this country and who want a meaningful place in our society even if they do not live within the territorial land mass that is governed by this State.Immigrant voting has emerged as a global democratic norm. While immigrant voting is not there yet, Ireland is relatively progressive in allowing immigrants the right to vote in local elections. I recognise that an advance of the proposal for a referendum the Government needs to first decide which category of overseas citizens should have an entitlement to vote. Other nations with very high levels of overseas citizens let their emigrants vote. Of the top five nations in the OECD, by emigrant percentage, Ireland is the only one to disenfranchise its emigrant citizens. New Zealand, Mexico, Portugal and Luxembourg all allow their emigrants to vote. India, the nation with the largest absolute numbers of emigrants and a global leader in diaspora engagement is also in the process of enabling its emigrants to vote. I welcome the options paper published earlier this month by the Government. We will make our formal submissions in due course but I want to make the point to the Minister of State that this is a once in a generation opportunity. I hope the Government objective is to enfranchise the highest number of citizens abroad possible, not to create further divisions through arbitrary controls such as criteria on the number of years living abroad. We have to be bigger in our ambitions and not simply replace old barriers with new, albeit less restrictive ones.

I have great faith that citizens living in this State want to extend the franchise to their children, cousins and friends living overseas 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 or abroad. The President will be as much their ambassador as ours which is something I truly believe Irish people living here would like to share in the recognition of. What a celebration of modern Irish identity that would be - a nation of emigrants with a President who leads all of us and is elected by all of us. I can think of not better way to remind the world that Ireland is a global nation. Ireland is not exiting its relationship with its European partners. We are not shutting down our borders but we are extending them. I thank the Minister of State and look forward to debating these matters further.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Go raibh maith agat a Chathaoirligh. Tá brón orm fadúda an brú.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Ná habair faic.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Bhí mé ag smaoineamh fadúda uimhir a ceathair ach tá sé socraithe anois. Tá mé anseo. Cuirim buíochas roimh an Seanadóir faoi choinne na ceiste fosta. Is ceist tábhachtach í.

I thank Senator Lawless for his own individual campaigning and as a representative of many groups down the years which have campaigned on this issue. No doubt the Senator is in constant communication and liaison with them and he will pass on my message and the Government's message about our commitment to this issue.

The announcement by the Taoiseach at the Famine Memorial in Philadelphia that a referendum will be held over whether Irish citizens resident outside of the State, including potential voters in Northern Ireland, should be allowed to vote in Presidential elections was a historic moment. It recognises the importance that Ireland places on its relationship with all our citizens wherever they may be. In times gone by, leaving Ireland meant a person severing their relationship with the State. We now want to give Irish citizens where ever they may be a chance in choosing the person who represents Irish people at home and abroad.

Many other countries give citizens resident outside the state a chance to vote in elections. However, I acknowledge that in respect of our citizenship laws, Ireland has some unique features which make the policy considerations more complex here compared to other countries. This is a timely development for Ireland given the ongoing and strong commitment of this Government and, indeed, successive Governments to deepening real engagement with our citizens who reside outside the State. Ireland's diaspora policy, published in 2015, recognises the need to nurture and develop our unique and important relationship with our diaspora. The issue of voting rights is of enormous importance to Irish citizens abroad who feel it is important that they have a say in electing the President who also represents them as Irish people living overseas. We drew on the skills and support of our diaspora in recent times of economic crisis. This initiative is a fitting recognition of the enormous contribution made by Irish people abroad historically and more recently to Ireland's recovery and development. The Government's decision to hold this referendum is in line with the recommendation with the Convention on the Constitution in its fifth report. Some 78% of its members were in favour of citizens outside the State having the right to vote in presidential elections.

Last Wednesday, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, Deputy Simon Coveney, published an options paper which sets out how the recommendations of the Convention on the Constitution might be realised. That paper, prepared in conjunction with my Department, provides a detailed analysis of the legal, policy and practical implications of extending the franchise. It shows the complexity of the issues but also that the various challenges which arise can be addressed with sufficient planning and resources.

The options paper will inform public discourse on the proposal that will be put to the people at the referendum. The upcoming Global Irish Civic Forum in May will further provide an opportunity to discuss the options paper with representatives of Irish communities abroad. It is intended that this and wider public discussions will allow the Government to identify a preferred option to put to the people in a referendum. As this House knows, I have had a strong and public personal commitment to extending voting rights to citizens abroad in Presidential elections. I was pleased to be there with the Taoiseach at the Famine Memorial in Philadelphia when he made the announcement. I have seen the vibrancy of the Irish community during the St Patrick’s Day parade and acknowledged the contribution of the Irish to the United States at the memorial to Commodore Barry and at Independence Hall. I saw for myself the positive reaction from Irish emigrants and Irish Americans as the Taoiseach said there was "no more fitting time or no more fitting place."

Article 2 of our Constitution requires us to cherish our special affinity with Irish people abroad. I believe the Government’s decision to hold a referendum on extending voting rights to Irish citizens abroad sends an important message to them on the value we place on them and their connection to Ireland.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Senator Lawless has a brief supplementary question.

Billy Lawless (Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to note the commitment both from the Minister of State, with whom I have discussed this on many occasions, and especially the Taoiseach, but it is past time. I am disappointed we will not be able to hold a referendum before the next Presidential election. When I mentioned this to our citizens abroad they were really delighted. They were delighted also when I was appointed by the Taoiseach in that they felt they were being recognised at long last. It is something of which all the parties are in favour, and of which the convention came out in favour. However, we do not have a good record in referendums in this country. I would impress on the Minister of State and the Taoiseach and all the Members of both Houses that when we have the referendum that everybody is fully behind it, and not half-heartedly. It is a once-off opportunity and we are going to make it happen. We owe it to our people abroad.

Do not forget that even in the last five or six years, some 230,000 young people left Ireland. There are about 500,000 parents of those people who want their sons and daughters to come back here. I have brought this up with the Minister of State before and we have to make it easier for our citizens to return as this is their home and will always be. We have to make it much easier, with things like drivers' licences, insurance and health care, that when they come back there is a welcome for them and that they feel like they are wanted back home.

I thank the Minister of State for his commitment. We have to make sure that we really go at this wholeheartedly.

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Senator that we have a history of referendums. I will not talk about my own county because it has a consistent history in regard to them. I am not naive that this will be an easily won referendum. It will not be. There will be opportunities in both the Seanad and the Dáil prior to the referendum and proper, open and honest discourse, prior to the preferred option being chosen, will be important. I know that Senator Lawless will be participating in the Civic Forum on 4 and 5 May.

I want to make one point, which the Senator mentioned, about the symbolism of the office.We are talking about votes for the diaspora in Presidential elections specifically. I have seen the role of the office evolving over the last 20 years. Look at the mark left by Mary Robinson and the imprint Mary McAleese left in the relationships with Northern Ireland and elsewhere and among our welfare organisations internationally. Within 48 hours of getting this job as Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora, I was at a summit in Istanbul with President Higgins. He was our President, but he was seen as an international voice; a voice of hope for a lot of people in humanitarian crises and development. The international community looks to Ireland for leadership. I have had a very positive insight into the symbolism of this role at both national and international levels and want to acknowledge the international role that President Higgins is playing. When one sees African leaders giving the President of this country a standing ovation for his commitment, his words and his inspiration on the international stage, that is where Ireland is going and we should never forget that.

Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge once again the wonderful work Senator Lawless is doing for the Irish diaspora in the United States and wish him success into the future.