Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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252. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the examinations he has undertaken in relation to extending the right to vote to Irish citizens abroad in Presidential elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27581/21]

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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In response to the evolving needs of Irish society and its relationship with the wider Irish diaspora, the previous Government agreed in March 2017 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 seek to amend the Constitution to give effect to this.

To inform public discourse on this significant policy change, an Options Paper was jointly published on 22 March 2017 by my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The Options Paper sets out a broad range of options for the extension of voting rights, international comparisons, the estimated costs involved and related resource issues as well as many of the legal, policy, administrative and logistical challenges associated with extending voting rights to Irish citizens resident outside the State. The Options Paper is available on the Government's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/ee8f0-voting-at-presidential-elections-by-citizens-resident-outside-the-state-options-paper-22-march-2017/.

My Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs have continued to work closely on this issue and, on 16 September 2019, the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 was initiated in Dáil Éireann by the then Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this issue. The Bill provides for amendments to Article 12 of the Constitution which, if passed by the people in a referendum, would extend the right to vote for the office of President to all citizens, irrespective of where they may reside, for elections held on or after 1 January 2025, which would be the beginning of the year in which the next scheduled election for the office of President would fall due.

The Programme for Government - Our Shared Future - commits to holding a referendum on extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside of the State. While the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 lapsed with the dissolution of the 32nd Dáil Éireann, in support of the Government commitment, the Bill has been restored to the Dáil Order Paper.