Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Far be it from me to put words in Deputy O'Callaghan's mouth. This is a well-presented amendment seeking merely to establish a review of this policy question. Similar amendments were ruled out of order for different reasons but I am glad we can have a discussion about this, brief as it might be.

It seems eminently sensible that this might be the first job, in terms of the research capacity of the commission, that it would be asked to do. There is a live debate on the question of voting age and extending voting rights to others, including people who have made Ireland their home and who do not have the status that would allow them to vote in general elections but who are engaged in enterprise, society and culture and have enriched our lives, communities, culture and society. Democracy is a delicate flower. It is evolving and it has been a long time since we scrutinised robustly and in an evidence-based way why our voting age should be 18 for general and local elections.

I said in the Dáil recently and others have also said that the levels of maturity 16- and 17-year-olds show now compared with when I was 16 or 17 is incredible. Given their levels of engagement and knowledge, how they assess information and the information sources they use, there is no doubt there is capacity among those aged 16 and over to participate in a democratic system in the way we do in our 30s, 40s, 50s, or whatever the case might be.

We ought to have a proper informed debate about extending voting rights to all residents within certain thresholds. I hope that discussion can be led by the commission. It is important. Our democracy is evolving and it has been a long time since we assessed who should be entitled to vote and the extension of voting rights. Now is the time to do it and the commission is the appropriate vehicle in which to do it.