Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As I said, steps are being taken to afford protections in this area. We will wait for the petitioner to come back to us.

P00046/23 is on reducing the age of candidacy for all elections to 18 years of age. The petition is from Mr. Cillian Fraher. It states that in order to create a more diverse and inclusive but well-represented society, it would be in order to have discussions on the matter of reducing the age of candidacy for all elections in Ireland to 18. It also states that if someone can vote at this age and be represented, why can they not be a public representative, be it for their own age group or for whatever ideas they stand for. It further states that some of the most politically active and mature people are in this age group and should have the right to represent their ideas and members of their age cohort.

The petitioner indicates his belief that the petition will get more young people interested and involved in politics, especially if they see their peers running for election. He states that those involved with the petition are young people aged 16 or 17 and that this is an issue they feel strongly in favour of. He further states that although it may be a tough process, they are willing to stick it out.

The secretariat wrote to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and received a response indicating that, changes to the minimum age requirement for candidates in Dáil, Seanad and presidential elections would require a constitutional change. The response also indicates that the Programme for Government: Our Shared Future contains no commitments for proposed reform in this area, nor does it propose lowering the minimum age requirement of candidates for European Parliament elections, which is consistent with Dáil and Seanad elections.

The Department's response indicates that Bunreacht na hÉireann sets out minimum age requirements in relation to eligibility for membership of Dáil Éireann, Seanad Éireann and for holding the office of President of Ireland. It also indicates that Article 16 of the Constitution states that a citizen must have reached the age of 21 in order to be a TD and that Article 18 states that a person to be eligible for membership of Seanad Éireann must be eligible to become a member of Dáil Éireann. It points out that Article 4 of the Constitution sets us that every citizen who has reached 35 years of age is eligible for election to the office of President and that a proposal to amend Article 4 in order to reduce the age of eligibility from 35 years to 21 years was rejected by the people in a referendum in 2015.

The response also states that for European Parliament elections, section 11(1) of the European Parliament Elections Act 1997, states that every person who has reached the age of 21 on polling day is eligible for election to be a representative in the European Parliament. It highlights that his provision ensures consistency with the minimum age requirements for candidates in Dáil and Seanad elections.

It also highlights that the European electoral Act of 1976 allows EU member states to set minimum age requirements for candidates in European Parliament elections. The Department points out that the minimum age varies among member states, ranging from 18 to 25. It further points out that in May 2022, the European Parliament proposed a uniform age of 18 for European Parliament elections through a proposed Council regulation, with no exceptions and that this egulation will need the unanimous approval of the Council and of all member states in line with their constitutional requirements. However, European Parliament elections in 2024 will be governed by the existing rules.

On age requirements for candidates in local elections, section 12 of the Local Government Act 2001 sets out that a person is eligible for election or co-option to and membership of a local authority if they are 18 years of age on or before polling day or, if there is no poll, the latest day for receiving nominations at the election or on or before the day of co-option to the local authority. The Department concluded by saying there are no plans at present to revisit the minimum age requirement for candidates in different types of elections.

The recommendation is a correspondence from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage be forwarded to the petitioner for comment within 14 days. Do members wish to express a view or is that agreed?