Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2018
534. Deputy Eoin Ó Broin asked the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government the timetable for the holding of referendums agreed on 26 September 2017 relating to voting at 16 and extending the franchise at presidential elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38634/18]
View answerThe Government announced on 26 September 2017 that it had agreed an indicative timetable for the holding of a number of referendums on proposals for amendments to the Constitution arising from the work of the Citizens’ Assembly and the Convention on the Constitution.
In this context, my Department will be responsible for bringing forward appropriate Constitution Amendment Bills on reducing the voting age to 16 and on extending the franchise at Presidential elections to Irish citizens resident outside the State. These referendums will address two of the recommendations of the Convention on the Constitution. Work is being progressed in my Department to inform the development of the appropriate Constitution Amendment Bills.
Subject to the passage of the Constitution Amendment Bills by the Houses of the Oireachtas, it is proposed that these referendums will be held on the same day as the local and European elections which will take place in late May 2019.
