The bill lapsed in January 2020 when the 32nd Dáil was dissolved for the 2020 general election, but was restored to the order paper in July 2020.
At present, the only nonresident voting rights in Ireland are for university constituencies in Seanad Éireann and certain public servants posted abroad.
[3] The Constitutional Convention established in 2012 was directed to report on several issues, including "giving citizens resident outside the State the right to vote in Presidential elections at Irish embassies, or otherwise".
It made some more detailed discussions, voting as follows: Restrictions: Although the Fine Gael–Labour coalition government was supposed to give an official response in the Dáil within four months of receiving the convention's report, it was not until January 2016 that Ann Phelan said it was "committed to undertaking … analysis" of the "complex and inter-related issues" involved in the recommendation.
The required Referendum Commission was established on 26 September, chaired by High Court judge David Barniville.