Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The voter participation element is absolutely critical. The commission will have the ability to look at other jurisdictions that are good examples, such as New Zealand. That will certainly be in its remit and it is a vital part of it. This is about getting young people, other hard to reach groups and minorities, including the Traveller community, and everyone else involved in our electoral processes. Our team has met a voter disability alliance around participation in electoral events, such as access to polling stations, information on candidates and referendums. We are continuing that work with these groups, with which we have had really good engagement. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to make 16 years the voting age for local elections, and we will task the commission to do that. I very much take the Deputy's point. I would love to see that commitment realised for the 2024 local and European elections.

The regulation of election posters is a pet subject of mine. I ran a successful general election campaign without the use of a single poster. I would love to see the money that candidates and parties now use for posters being put into much more informative resources, online and otherwise, to inform the electorate about their policies and programmes for elections. That would be a far better spend of public money and candidates' money. I would love to see either a significant reduction in posters, perhaps the use of designated sites in urban areas, or a complete ban on posters. I do not think they have any place in the electoral system and many people have turned away from them. I absolutely agree with the Deputy on that. It is an issue the commission can be tasked with considering.