Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá a fhios agam gur ábhar é seo ina bhfuil spéis aige. Tá a fhios aige gur ábhar é atáimse ag ardú le tréimhse mhaith anuas.

I welcome the Minister of State. I am glad he is taking this Commencement matter because I know it will be of great interest to him personally. He will know and recall from his time in the Seanad that it is an issue I have been raising consistently. I last raised it as a Commencement matter with the then Minister of State with responsibility for the diaspora in 2020 when, as we all understand, we were in a very different climate. We were not in a position whereby a referendum could be held, given the health restrictions that were in place.

As we head into the St. Patrick's Day celebrations and as Ministers prepare to travel around the world to rightly engage with our diaspora, following the commitment from the Government that no citizens in the North would be left behind, this is a crucial and opportune time for the Government to outline the timeframe for this referendum. At the time of my previous Commencement matter on the issue, I outlined all the substantial steps going back many years relating to this issue. I outlined the fact it had been committed to and agreed to at a constitutional convention, the fact the legislation had been published but fell during the previous Oireachtas, and the fact it was then reissued, republished and returned to the Order Paper.

All that preparatory work has been done. We all agree, as parties and groups, that we value our diaspora and that Irish citizens in the North should have full citizenship rights. One of the most basic rights and entitlements of any citizen is the right to vote. The President is not the president of a land mass, as he recently articulated very eloquently. He is President of the Irish people, so it is only right that all Irish people would have the entitlement and the right to vote.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response. We need to hear a timeline and what tangible actions the Government will take to implement this non-contentious commitment which was in the programme for Government. All we are asking for is to ensure our fellow citizens have a say, whether they are part of our global diaspora family or our fellow citizens just up the road in the Six Counties.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response. Crucially, I look forward to working with Government colleagues and colleagues right across this House, and the other House, because it will need a positive, collaborative sentiment and work similar to that we have seen come about in recent referendums held in this State. It will require us to put our shoulder to the wheel to make sure this is won and ensure that we say to citizens who do not currently have a vote in presidential elections that we value them, they are equal and this is a small but important step forward in ensuring they have full rights as citizens.

I thank Senator Ó Donnghaile for finishing well within his time.

I thank my good friend and colleague, Senator Ó Donnghaile, for raising this important issue. He raised it on many occasions during my time in the Seanad.

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, on 22 March 2017, an options paper was jointly published by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Foreign Affairs. The options paper set 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 provided a basis for the discussion on voting rights, which took place at the Global Irish Civic Forum in Dublin on 5 May 2017. It remains available to view or download on the Government's website.

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage 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 Minister for Foreign Affairs to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this important 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 was restored to the Dáil Order Paper in the summer of 2020. The restoration of the Bill will also support the commitment in Global Ireland: Ireland's Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025, published by the Department of Foreign Affairs on 19 November 2020, to hold a referendum on this matter. When the Bill, which is sponsored by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, is passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas, section 10 of the Referendum Act 1994 requires the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to make an order appointing the day upon which the poll for the proposed referendum will take place. The Act provides that the polling day shall be not less than 30 days and not more than 90 days after the date of the order.

I again thank Senator Ó Donnghaile for raising this issue. It is one he has championed over the years, and I thank him for that.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit as an fhreagra cuimsitheach. I thank the Minister of State for outlining some of the technical detail involved. I note the important fact that the Minister for Foreign Affairs will be sponsoring the legislation going through both Houses. It is important that we have a key person, an anchor that can be identified and with whom we can work.

I appreciate that this is not the Minister of State's brief. I say this respectfully because the matter does not relate to his Department. The answer outlined to me today is almost identical to the one I got in November 2020. What we need to know is, crucially, when the referendum Bill will come before the Houses. When will the legislation be initiated? Will it be before the summer recess, for example? Will the Bill at least begin its journey? We know that we are dealing with substantial legislation currently, but it is incumbent on the Government to ensure it carves out the necessary time in the Dáil and Seanad. The Government will find the Seanad very willing to engage with it and to ensure the legislation is passed speedily. As the Minister of State says, the Bill is succinct. It is simple in what it is trying to do. We, collectively, should know we have a date to work towards to ensure the referendum is won. If the Minister of State is in a position, I ask him to tell us when it is anticipated that the referendum Bill will be initiated and brought through the Houses.

Again, I do not have that detail, but I will bring the Senator's views back to the Minister. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Department of Foreign Affairs have worked closely on this issue. They have agreed to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this important issue. If passed by the people in a referendum, it would extend the right to vote for the Office of President to all citizens, irrespective of where they reside when an election is held on or after 1 January 2025, the year in which the next scheduled election for the Office of President falls due. I accept that Senator Ó Donnghaile wants to see the Bill before the House.

Yes.

I appreciate the urgency and I will bring the Senator's views to the Minister. I thank him for raising this issue because we would like to see a situation whereby wherever green is worn, as it were, across the world every Irish citizen would have a franchise to elect the President. I understand the logistics but the sentiment is shared by us all.

I thank the Minister of State and Senator Ó Donnghaile for that interesting Commencement matter.