Vol. 431 No. 1
12 Ms McManus asked the Minister for the Environment if, in regard to the commitment given in the Programme for a Partnership Government 1993-1997, he will give details of the form the proposed examination of voting rights for emigrants will take; if any deadline has been set for the conclusion of this examination; if he intends to publish the discussion paper on this issue which was prepared for the previous Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
51 Mr. Deenihan asked the Minister for the Environment if the Government intends to introduce legislation granting a vote to our emigrants in Dáil elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
84 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for the Environment if he will introduce a constitutional amendment to permit representation of our emigrants in Seanad Éireann.
85 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for the Environment if it is intended to provide for Seanad representation for Irish emigrants; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 12, 51, 84 and 85 together.
The Programme for a Partnership Government accepts in principle that there should be constitutional change to give voting rights to emigrants and indicates that this issue will be further examined. As the Minister responsible for electoral law, the matter is one for attention by me, in the first instance. I intend to conduct a comprehensive examination of the issue and to make proposals to the Government in the normal way. No specific deadline has been set at this stage.
In accordance with normal practice, it is not proposed to publish papers submitted to the previous Government in this matter.
That is what the Taoiseach was doing in America.
Will the Minister state if we are being repetitive in having another study conducted for the Government on the question of voting rights for emigrants given that one was conducted for the previous Government? Will the Minister inform the House what conclusions were reached in that study? I remind the Minister that the issue of voting rights for emigrants was formally raised first by way of a Private Members' Bill in this House introduced by one of the partners in Government. Will he avail of the opportunity provided by the European elections next year to hold the referendum referred to in the Programme for Government? Will he avail of the opportunity in the election Bill he promised to introduce to permit some voting entitlement for our emigrants?
There is a fairly significant difference between this Government's approach to this matter and that of the last Government who left some difficulties unresolved. I am restricted in what I can say because of other decisions over which I have no control and which involve Government confidentiality. However, it is well known that the recommendation of the Attorney General, under Article 16 of the Constitution, was that there were very strict limits on the use of that Article for extending voting rights to emigrants, that it would be confined to people who were temporarily resident in another country and has retained their domicile here. There was much public debate and difference about its interpretation. The Government has accepted that there would be a need for constitutional change, which was not accepted or agreed by the Government on the last occasion. Bearing in mind all the ramifications involved, it would be impossible to take all factors into account in the electoral Bill being drafted. We would have to be fair to the resident and emigrant population and take into consideration the question of taxation. Other issues would have to be resolved such as the option of Seanad representation which was put forward by the Fine Gael Party. Clearly these options are not for immediate implementation in the electoral Bill I am preparing. It is not my intention to include such a proposal in this Bill. It will take longer but it will be concluded within the lifetime of this Government.
Another U-turn.
Has any consideration been given to the likely electorate, the number of people capable of and likely to vote in the event of this legislation being passed? Has agreement been reached within the Government on the number of people who would have a right to vote?
I am grateful to Deputy Durkan for putting his finger on one of the problems involved. Clearly, any decision on numbers would be based on the length of time a citizen might have been absent from the country, when he or she might have emigrated and whether the facility, if granted, should be extened to people who had left the country for, say, five or ten years. Once one delves into this question, one discovers it is difficult to resolve.
The Tánaiste had been making promises.
Deputy Allen should relax; Cork are still in the league final.
The Fine Gael Party is in favour of representation in the Seanad. In relation to votes for emigrants, has any consideration been given — we had the example in another part of the island today — to the misuse of proxy and postal voting, in an effort to subvert democracy? Will the Minister examine what is happening north of the Border today and consider the fact that friends of some of the people who are subverting democracy in other parts of the world have a certain influence and would be involved in this type of activity on a significant scale? Certainly, if they were entitled to elect Members to this House in such circumstances, the balance of power here could be affected? We are, in principle, in favour of votes for emigrants but will the Minister examine this and ascertain whether any method can be devised to prevent this type of malpractice?
There is the principle of whether one could or should introduce votes for emigrants while being fair to both the resident and emigrant populations. That question can be decided only by the people in a referendum. The points the Deputy raised are legitimate. There is no question but that problems would be posed by proxy voting and its supervision even if we used an embassy. Here there is a good chance of somebody knowing those casting a vote but there would not be the same opportunity if one applied this in the way that might be expected. In fairness to Members who have raised questions, I should say it is clear that any mad rush towards electoral reform this year, or to do something without taking all the implications into account, would not be in the national interest.
Would the Minister agree that it is a requirement under the Maastricht Treaty on each member state to give to other EC citizens, resident in their State a vote in local and European elections? Is he aware that Irish citizens resident in France and Italy have no vote in either European or local elections? Would he agree that representations should be made to put that right?
I do not want to give Deputy Bruton a hard and fast answer on this. Having examined fairly extensively the different systems and excluding for a moment the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty, its subsequent ratification and its possible application in different countries — there is a very wide variation between what is happening in European countries in regard to the question of franchise for emigrants and/or people living in those countries. First, there is a need to generate more realistic thinking because, in certain cases, it is quite generous but, in others, is so limited as to be in name only. Whatever we do we should devote considerable thought to it and get it right in the end.
On a number of occasions the Minister said he did not want to be rushed on this issue. May I remind him that acceptance in principle in the Programme for Government is not as he stated, based on a requirement for a constitutional change. However, it states that there should be constitutional change to give voting rights to emigrants which is tantamount to promising a referendum.
Would the Deputy please remind the Minister some other time.
The Minister misquoted the Programme for Government. I hope there is not any significance in that.
He did not read it.
The holy grail.
They are playing rings around the Labour Party; that is what they should be telling the Deputy.
They are certainly backing off giving votes to emigrants. Would the Minister say whether, at any time in the lifetime of this Government, there will be a referendum to change the Constitution to give voting right to emigrants?
It seems that I have great difficulty with the English language because I have gone——
"Yes" or "No" will answer that question.
I do not mind if it gets somewhat exciting here at this hour of the day.
The Minister will not fall asleep.
I have tried to indicate that this requires further consideration. In fact the questions Members have tabled demonstrate that they have been very clear in their minds also that a decision in relation to this matter requires further examination. Therefore, they should not accuse me of selectively quoting from the Programme for Government because that is exactly what Deputy Gilmore has done. It states: "We accept the principle that there should be constitutional change to give voting rights to emigrants and this issue will be further examined".
Will there be a referendum?
I am calling Question No. 14.
A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, is Question No. 22 being taken with No. 14?
Presumably the Minister will advise us of that now.
It is.
