Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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143. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the consultation that has been conducted by his Department with the Irish diaspora on voting rights for new emigrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44118/25]

Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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With the Government’s current Diaspora Strategy expiring at the end of 2025, I have been leading an extensive consultation process to inform our next Strategy, which will launch at the Global Irish Civic Forum in April 2026.

This consultation exercise has involved meeting with diaspora organisations at home and abroad. I have led in-person discussions with community groups overseas, including in Nairobi, Brussels, Boston, Philadelphia, Manchester, Glasgow and London. I also hosted a roundtable discussion in Iveagh House last month to hear from my fellow Oireachtas members. Our in-person consultations are being supplemented by an online consultation, the Global Irish Survey, to ensure we can hear from as many voices as possible.

These consultations have been positive and warmly welcomed and provide a platform to hear from our communities overseas on a wide range of issues of interest to them, including, on occasion, the issue of voting rights.

As I noted recently in the Dáil, extending voting rights to citizens outside this jurisdiction would require a referendum and the Government continues to reflect on the matter.