Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this issue and thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for sharing his time with me. I am delighted to see my colleague from Tipperary in the Government benches to hear this debate.

I have concerns about this referendum. I have the greatest faith in young Irish people. They are the brightest and most intelligent of people in every way, in sport, literature, culture and communications. I have eight children all under the age of 30, some of whom are involved in youth affairs and they and I believe 21 is far too young an age to be President and that this is a wasteful proposal. If the best the Government can do is to bring forward this proposal, a token referendum, it has failed in its promises. It promised all kinds of reform, a new era of transparency and openness and changed politics. I understand the Government held the Constitutional Convention and that this proposal came from that, but I believe that young people are neither interested in nor want to stand for office as President at the age of 21.

At that age, young people are just finishing or just out of college and may want to go on and do their Master's degree. Young people I have heard speak in debate and in national fora have said that what they want to do after college is to get a job or to travel around the world. I believe 21 is too young to take on the important role of President and to oversee the legislation that has been churned out and rammed through this House. Take for example the Children and Family Relationships Bill, a massive piece of legislation with far-reaching consequences for young people, children and families. I respect the office of President and the ability of the current incumbent to deal with Bills like this and to refer to the Council of State if necessary.

The introduction of this token referendum is farcical. The cost is also an issue. Comments have been made on the cost and while I am not aware of the exact cost, it will be a significant amount. The children's referendum cost over €3 million and I voted for the holding of that referendum. However, the money was misspent by the current Government. This was challenged by a good lady, Joanna Jordan, in the High Court and the High Court upheld the Government case. However, Ms Jordan took the case to the Supreme Court and all five judges unanimously decided the Government had erred and had misspent the money on its campaign. In other words, it was caught with its hand in the till. I do not want to use stronger terms, but that is what happened. I have told the Minister for Justice and Equality that if she does not address this issue soon, I will make a complaint to An Garda Síochána. If somebody stole bread from a shop, he would be prosecuted for it, but in this case the Government misspent the money.

The Minister of State, Deputy Hayes, is a member of the Government that stands over that decision and is now going to bring forward another referendum. What faith can the people have that this referendum or the one to be held along with it will be run properly? It will have none whatsoever, since the highest court in the land found the Government had misappropriated the money. That children's referendum should have been stopped. A legal challenge on that issue is ongoing and if the Referendum Act is found to have been breached, that makes a farce of the two referendums planned now. It is time the Government took its head out of the sand and started listening to the people. Above all, it is time it respected the laws that have been passed by the Oireachtas, laws it is supposed to implement. The Government is not doing that. The situation is farcical.

We saw what happened in Castlebar the other day, when ordinary people were denied justice. Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice without public scrutiny or participation is not proper justice. Under the Constitution, citizens are entitled to be in a courtroom. Those good people in Castlebar were not going to intimidate, assault or threaten anybody.

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