Vol. 430 No. 8
167 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for the Environment the other EC countries which do not at present grant Irish citizens resident there votes in local and European elections; and if he has any proposals to make representations to the authorities in these countries to grant votes in these elections as is envisaged in the Maastricht Treaty.
All adult residents, regardless of citizenship, are entitled to vote at local elections in Ireland. Similarly, all adult resident EC nationals are entitled to vote at elections in Ireland to the European Parliament.
Adult Irish citizens resident in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands are entitled to vote at local elections and elections to the European Parliament held in those countries. Irish citizens resident in Denmark have this right at local elections while Irish citizens resident in Belgium have this right at elections to the European Parliament.
Article 8b of the Treaty on European Union provides that every EC national shall have the right to vote and stand for local and European elections in the member state of residence, subject to detailed arrangements to be adopted by the Council and any derogations warranted by problems specific to a member state. The Treaty provides that these detailed arrangements will be adopted by the Council, in the case of the European Parliament, by end-1993 and, in the case of local elections, by end 1994.
As the Council of Ministers has already commenced preliminary examination of the extension of these rights throughout the EC, I do not consider that approaches to individual member states would be appropriate at this stage.
