Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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153. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the detail of the announcement on allowing the Irish diaspora to vote for the presidential election by 2025; and his plans in this regard. [14480/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Government recently decided to hold a referendum to amend the Constitution to give the right to vote at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State, including Northern Ireland. In order to inform public discourse on the significant policy change proposed, an Options Paper is being published this week. The Options Paper will set out the range of options available to give effect to the recommendation in the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution. It will also provide a basis for a discussion on voting rights, which will be one of the topics to be addressed at the Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin next May.

These considerations will inform the preparation of the necessary legislation for a referendum. If approved in a referendum, the extension of the franchise, as proposed, would require modernisation of the voter registration process and the introduction of arrangements to facilitate citizens to exercise their franchise from outside the State. The Government has agreed that my Department should now commence work to effect improvements in the registration of voters.