Under existing law, British citizens who are ordinarily resident here and have reached the age of 18 years are entitled to vote at local elections and at elections to the European Parliament. The purpose of this Bill is to grant to British citizens the right to vote at Dáil elections, presidential elections and referenda on conditions identical with those applying in the case of Irish citizens.
The Bill proposes that a British citizen shall be entitled to be registered as a Dáil elector in a constituency if he or she has reached the age of 18 years and if, on the qualifying date, he or she is ordinarily resident in that constituency. Having been registered as a Dáil elector, he or she will be entitled under the Electoral Act, 1963 to vote at presidential elections and referenda as well as at Dáil elections.
The Bill, although consisting of a single operative section only, has important constitutional and political implications.
Article 16.1.2º of the Constitution provides that:
Every citizen without distinction of sex who has reached the age of eighteen years who is not disqualified by law and complies with the provisions of the law relating to Dáil Éireann, shall have the right to vote at an election for members of Dáil Éireann.
In the past, the view was sometimes taken that the right to vote in a Dáil election granted to Irish citizens by this Article was an exclusive right and that it was not open to the Oireachtas to grant a similar right to non-citizens without first amending the Constitution.
Recent consideration of this matter has led to the view that where the Constitution guarantees certain rights to a particular category it does not necessarily follow that the Oireachtas is inhibited from granting similar rights by law to other categories. We are proceeding on the basis that what is proposed in this Bill is compatible with the provisions of the Constitution. Legal advice has, however, drawn attention to the fact that the question of the exclusivity or otherwise of the rights granted to citizens by the Constitution has not been authoritatively decided by the Supreme Court and that it is not possible that advice given in the absence of such a decision can be completely conclusive. In such circumstances, should the President, in the exercise of his absolute discretion, see fit to refer this Bill to the Supreme Court, such a reference would have the very considerable advantage of removing all possibility of doubt from such a vital area as the validity of our electoral law. I would emphasise, of course, that this is a matter entirely within the discretion of the President.
By conferring on British citizens living here a right similar to that which Irish citizens have enjoyed in Britain for a long time, indeed since 1922, the Bill will redress an imbalance in the voting entitlements as between citizens of the two countries. I believe that Senators will consider that this is in itself a sufficient justification for this Bill. From the political viewpoint the Bill is also intended to give a further measure of practical expression to what has been referred to as the unique relationship which exists between this country and our nearest neighbour, the UK.
There is no official information available as to the precise number of British citizens ordinarily resident in Ireland who will benefit from this measure but it is estimated that the number is in the region of 10,000 to 12,000. In this connection, some British citizens already have voting rights by virtue of the fact that they hold both Irish and British citizenship.
It will be noted that section 1 of the Bill proposes to define the expression "British citizen" by reference to the British Nationality Act, 1981. Following consideration of a number of options this was considered the best way to express clearly the intention of the Bill. Prior to 1981 there was no satisfactory definition of the term "British citizen". The British Nationality Act, 1981 distinguished three different categories of citizens — British citizens, British Dependent Territories citizens and British overseas citizens. The present Bill will apply only to the first named category, that is, to British citizens. In effect, this means to citizens of the United Kingdom. It is not intended to extend the franchise to nationals of Commonwealth countries or of British territories.
The Bill is set firmly in the context of the special relationship between this country and the United Kingdom and, in promoting it, the Government hope that it will contribute in a worth-while measure towards improving the climate of relations between all the peoples of these islands.
I would like to add that, on Committee Stage, the Seanad will be invited to consider a technical amendment to section 2 of the Bill in relation to collective citation and construction in order to take account of the likelihood that the Electoral (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 1983 will be enacted before this measure. That last point relates to what we were discussing in the previous legislation that the House has just passed.
I strongly commend this Bill to the Members of the House. It is, I believe, a very clear and practical political expression by all parties represented in this House to improve quickly the relationship between the United Kingdom and Ireland.