Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

288. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if the opportunity of legislation relating to the European Parliament constituencies will be used to amend the Electoral Act 1992 to ensure that United Kingdom nationals resident here will be entitled to vote in the European Parliament election in May 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47263/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

A decision on the number of representatives to be elected to the European Parliament in each Member State for the 2019-2024 parliamentary term was made by the European Council on 28 June 2018. Council Decision (EU) 2018/937 provides for 13 members to be elected in Ireland for the 2019-2024 parliamentary term. This necessitated a review of European Parliament constituencies in Ireland and, in this regard, I made an order establishing a European Parliament Constituency Committee on 24 July 2018 to make a report in accordance with the requirements of Part II of the Electoral Act 1997. The Committee presented its report to the Ceann Comhairle on 24 September 2018 after which it was laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.

Now that the Committee has reported with its recommendations, I intend to bring legislative proposals to Government shortly to amend our Electoral Acts in order to give effect to the recommendations in the Report on European Parliament Constituencies 2018 and to make such other amendments as may be necessary for the holding of the European Parliament elections in 2019, details of which will be published in due course.