Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate on this important initiative to extend the franchise to a wider section of society. There are many restrictions on voting rights and, as the Minister of State is aware, not all Irish citizens have those rights. For instance, those under 18 do not have the right to vote. Most migrants have limited voting rights in this State. In addition, those who are forced to emigrate, mainly as a result of the infliction of austerity on them and their families, have no real capacity to influence the political process within this State. They cannot bring about a situation in which they feel comfortable enough to come home and secure a living here. It is unfair, so as legislators we have a responsibility to rectify this matter.

I fully support extending the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds. Those aged 16 are deemed competent enough to consent to medical treatment or opt out of it, and I do not have an issue with that. However, it is odd that while they are deemed competent to make life-and-death decisions on personal health and safety, the State does not view them as competent to decide who they believe should make health policies.

I know the Bill will be supported tonight and will go to Committee Stage, but some people, both here and in our broader society, say it is too radical a step to allow 16 year olds to vote. They say such an age cohort are children and could not possibly have the competency to vote in any type of election. None the less, governments are happy enough to acknowledge the maturity and capacity of 16 and 17 year olds and consider them as adults when it suits them. For instance, the Children Act ensures that the age of criminal responsibility in this jurisdiction is 12 years. It is hard, therefore, to comprehend why children are judged to be mature and responsible enough when it comes to committing a crime, but not to cast a vote.

As Sinn Féin's education spokesperson, I have met many students under the age of 18. In my dealings with them I have been presented with no credible argument as to why 16 and 17 year olds should not be allowed to vote. I do not believe that if we gave them the vote they would make a wrong decision. There is no right or wrong decision when one casts a vote. That is a person's right.

People may also argue that those aged under 18 have no experience of engaging with political structures.

I know from dealing with many cases in my own constituency involving people under 18, whether it was to do with SUSI grants, access to education, trying to secure a reader for children with special educational needs sitting the leaving certificate or cuts in funding to local organisations they may be a part of, that they have a wide engagement with the political spectrum.All of the political parties have a youth structure. We have a vibrant growing youth structure in our party, and thousands of people aged 16 to 18 are engaged in political activity every day.

There is also research to suggest that allowing 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote will establish a lifelong habit of voting and as mentioned by the previous speaker, if we are genuine about trying to engage young people and get them into the habit of voting, and reversing those trends in the numbers of people who are not engaging in the electoral process, it makes sense, given the research, to reduce the voting age to 16 and 17 year olds. In that way we can address some of those issues.

Schools are teaching civil, social and political education, CSPE, and there is even greater scope for a broader teaching of politics within our education system. I am confident that our young people can engage with these subjects in a positive way. To put it simply, they understand what they are dealing with when they are given the knowledge within schools.

I am confident that 16 and 17 year olds can exercise the right to vote, and the sky will not fall in. It is clear that the fear of giving them the vote stems from a major underestimation of their capabilities and capacities. Young people played a very important part in the recent Scottish referendum, and it is clear that young people will engage in the political system if given the opportunity.

There was a time when it was considered appropriate that only people over the age of 21 should vote. We lowered that age because we recognised that people between the ages of 18 and 21 should be allowed to vote. It is now time for further recognition of people between the ages of 16 and 18, and we should make that change accordingly. We should follow in the footsteps of many of our European counterparts on the issue of the voting age. For instance, in Austria, in seven of the 16 states in Germany, and in parts of Switzerland people aged between 16 and 18 have the ability to vote.

On the broader issue of voting rights for Irish citizens in presidential elections, I remind the Government Members that they established the Constitutional Convention and asked it to examine this very issue. It gave an overwhelming response to the issue, with 78% voting in favour of extending voting rights to citizens within the Six Counties. That was generally accepted by the Constitutional Convention, and its make-up would reflect broader society. That indicates a desire to change the law accordingly. However, despite the Constitutional Convention's recommendation that the Government should legislate and hold a referendum on presidential voting rights for citizens resident outside the State, the Government has failed even to bring the report before the Chamber for it to be debated, never mind give a commitment on holding any such referendum. The Taoiseach has publicly stated that he believes this is an issue for the next Government to deal with. I have asked him on the Order of Business when we will have that debate but we have yet to be given a timeline.

While I welcome that this issue will be allowed go to committee, it is important that we do not allow it to be set aside. There is much scope and merit for it to be expanded on. I listened to the contribution of the Minister of State, Deputy Nash, earlier in which he highlighted some of the difficulties he envisages in terms of this legislation. That is something we can deal with in committee.

I agree with the previous speaker on the disengagement of some people from politics. There are many reasons for that, and we all have to bear some responsibility in that regard, but one of the key ways of reversing that is to develop a lifelong habit of voting and the earlier we give people the opportunity to cast that vote, the more likely they are to continue that trend. For that reason alone, we should consider supporting the Bill and having a referendum not only on extending voting rights in presidential elections but also lowering the voting age to 16.

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