Written answers

Wednesday, 1 April 2015

Department of Environment, Community and Local Government

Constitutional Amendments

Photo of Michael McCarthyMichael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)
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192. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans for a referendum on allowing the diaspora to vote in presidential elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13587/15]

Photo of Alan KellyAlan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The Convention on the Constitution recommended in its Fifth Report that citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in Presidential elections. In considering a response to this recommendation the Government decided that it would be necessary to analyse the full range of issuesthat would arise in any significant extension of the franchise, before any decision could be made on the holding of a referendum. In ‘Global IrishIreland’s Diaspora Policy, launchedon 3 March 2015, the Government acknowledged that such an extension of the franchise would be welcomed by many in the diaspora. However, the Government also acknowledged that it would be challenging to introduce and to manage, and that a range of issues would arise for analysis in that context, including policy, legal and practical issues. I will be undertaking the necessary analysis in co-operation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Minister for Diaspora Affairs.

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