Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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611. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will sanction the appropriate measures to allow citizens who are abroad on holidays to vote in the forthcoming referendum on the eighth amendment and subsequent elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17891/18]

John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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Postal voting is provided for in electoral law in respect of a number of categories of electors - whole-time members of the Defence Forces, members of An Garda Síochána, Irish diplomats serving abroad and their spouses/civil partners, electors living at home who are unable to vote because of a physical illness or a physical disability, electors whose occupation, service or employment makes it likely that they will be unable to vote in person at their local polling station on polling day, full-time students registered at their home who are living elsewhere while attending an educational institution in the State, prisoners and certain election staff employed at the poll outside the constituency where they reside. Potential voters falling into these categories who are not already postal voters have until 28 April 2018 to apply to their registration authorities for inclusion in the supplement to the postal voters list to avail of a postal vote in the forthcoming referendum.

While electoral law is subject to ongoing review I have no proposals at present to extend existing arrangements for postal voting.