Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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535. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a reply will issue to a query (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52596/17]

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Irish citizens are entitled to vote at Presidential, Dáil, European Parliament and local elections as well as in referendums. In general, to exercise their right to vote, all such persons must be ordinarily resident in the State, have reached the age of 18 years and be registered on the register of electors for the constituency or local electoral area in which they ordinarily reside.

In relation to the residency requirement, a person shall be deemed not to have given up their ordinary residence if they intend to resume residence within eighteen months after giving it up, under section 11(3) of the Electoral Act 1992. However, section 149 of the Electoral Act 1992 provides that a person who is included in a register of electors that is currently in force but who is not entitled to be so included in the register shall be guilty of an offence if they vote. There is a responsibility on each individual who votes to ensure that they are entitled to do so.

In response to the evolving needs of Irish society and its relationship with the wider Irish diaspora, the Government agreed in March of this year 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 amend the Constitution to give effect to this.

In order to inform public discourse on this significant policy change, an Options Paper was published on 22 March 2017 by my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Options Paper sets out a range of options as well as many of the legal, policy and logistical challenges associated with extending voting rights to Irish citizens resident outside the State. The Options Paper also provided a basis for the discussion on voting rights which took place at the Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin on 5 May 2017. These discussions will inform the Government’s decision on a preferred option to be put to the people in a referendum.

Even if a referendum was held immediately and passed, it would not be feasible to have comprehensive arrangements in place for an extension of the franchise to have effect for any presidential election to be held before 2025 as this will require modernisation of the voter registration process and the introduction of arrangements to facilitate those eligible to vote to exercise their franchise from outside the State. In this regard, my Department has commenced work to effect improvements in, and to modernise, the process for the registration of voters. All aspects of voter registration will be reviewed as part of this project.

The Government announced on 26 September 2017 that it has agreed indicative dates for the holding of referendums in 2018 and 2019, subject to the timely passage of Constitution Amendment Bills by each House of the Oireachtas. Included in the list is the proposed referendum on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State which it is intended will be held on the date of the local and European elections in June 2019. My Department will bring forward an appropriate Constitution Amendment Bill on extending the franchise at Presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State in good time for the holding of the referendum.