Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have to say the Government amendment is disappointing. Normally we do not have the amendment before the debate starts. What the amendment is proposing is that the next election will have taken place before Second Stage will be taken. That is disappointing, and every young person in Ireland will find it disappointing. I am delighted to bring the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Vote at 16) Bill to the Chamber and I am looking forward to hearing contributions from other Deputies on it. The Bill quite simply seeks to amend Article 16 of the Constitution to reduce the age of eligibility to vote in Dáil elections from 18 years to 16 years.

I thank the students of St. Catherine's Vocational School in Killybegs. The student council there has been following and contributing to the Bill since I introduced it last May. It is a pity the debate is taking place during the school holidays but we could not avoid it because of the scheduling. When the students came to Leinster House last month we discussed lowering the voting age and what the Bill would mean if enacted. This is essentially what is at the heart of the Bill. It is about listening to young people and giving them a voice to express their views should they want to do so. I had hoped the Government would allow the legislation to progress but we now know it will not. We could have had an opportunity to discuss the Bill further when the young people return to school in September but we will have to wait until June 2023 if we are still here.

One of great things about legislation such as this which includes young people is that it fosters great discussion and healthy debate. This should only be encouraged. It proves how involved young people become once we give them the opportunity and space to do so. I thank the National Youth Council of Ireland and all the team there. It has been campaigning for voting rights for 16- and 17-year-olds since 2009 and has done fantastic research on this issue. It will have to campaign for a bit longer to make sure it comes to pass. I also thank the Irish Second-Level Students Union for all the work it has done on this. We are joined by young people from both bodies in the Gallery and I warmly welcome them. They are the faces behind the campaigning and it is great to see so many young people take an interest in this issue. It completely disproves the point that young people are not interested in politics. I am very glad they are here to watch this debate take place today. There are also many young people watching this debate at home. I acknowledge it would not be happening without all these young voices pushing for change. I acknowledge again the great work of Senators Lynn Ruane and Fintan Warfield, who brought forward legislation in the Seanad to allow 16-year-olds to vote in local and European elections and did extensive research into youth participation.

I see no reason 16-year-olds should not be allowed to vote. Any argument I have heard against allowing 16-year-olds a vote seems to leave out the very important point that voting is optional. Young people who are not interested in politics will not vote. It is as simple as that. There are many older people who are not interested in politics and who do not vote. This simply is not a good enough reason not to allow them the opportunity to do so should they wish. There are also many older people who are not interested in politics who do vote, which makes a difference. This same point can be made to those who think young people will not take voting seriously. There are many people of all ages who do not take voting seriously and who can vote on a whim. It would be ridiculous to dictate who votes on how informed they are. People certainly do not suddenly become well informed when they reach 18 years of age. People come to politics and voting in their own time when it is right for them. For some this is at the age of 40, while for others, it is at 16. We should not take this opportunity away from those who are politically engaged and ready to vote. Everyone's societal and political journey is different and we should recognise this.

For argument's sake, if we were to discuss how well informed people are, I believe young people today are more informed than any other generation of teenagers. Our teenagers are highly educated and study a wide range of subjects. They are very capable of understanding the political system. I am sure many in the Chamber would agree that we, on the other hand, might not do so well in sitting a junior certificate paper if we were given one right now. We have to stop the constant undermining and belittling of our young people. They are educated. They are smart. We can hardly believe that they are capable of sitting exams in nine different subjects but they are somehow unable to get their head around the single transferable vote. I remind the House that civic, social and political education is one of these subjects and teenagers are actually taught about the electoral system in Ireland as well as their rights and responsibilities as citizens. As the National Youth Council of Ireland states, they should have the right not only to learn about political participation but to experience it through voting.

With the introduction of the leaving certificate politics and society subject, and with easy access to information on a wide range of issues and politics via the Internet, young people are very well informed and have the necessary tools to make well-informed decisions. I have often heard the argument that young people are easily swayed and I completely disagree with this assertion. We know young people are very Internet-savvy and are much more aware and conscious of misinformation than the older generation. Sadly, it is actually mostly the older generation that has been swept up in Internet misinformation in recent years. The argument that young people are the only ones prone to this is completely unfounded. Young people are far better equipped to recognise fake news, clickbait and misinformation on the Internet. As well as that, they are mature enough. It has been shown that there is not a considerable difference between an 18-year-old and a 16-year-old in terms of mental capacity for thought and development so there is no reason that an 18-year-old can vote but a 16-year-old cannot. Sixteen is the age at which young people gain many rights and responsibilities in society. For example, they can leave school, seek full-time employment, be liable for tax, learn to drive, consent to medical procedures, get a dog licence and join the youth sections of political parties.

They can have all these societal responsibilities but no say on how their society is run.

We have seen voting extended to 16- and 17-year-olds in other jurisdictions, including Austria, Scotland and Malta, with positive results. There is no reason why we should not follow suit. A number of EU countries also allow voting at 16 for European elections. The European Parliament has endorsed a report calling for the voting age for European elections to be set at 16. As well as this, the constitutional convention agreed that it was preferable to extend the right to vote to 16. Following those recommendations, the then Government committed to holding a referendum to reduce the voting age to 16. However, nothing came of it. In its report on the manner in which referendums are held and fixed-term parliaments, the citizens’ assembly voted 80% in favour of reducing the voting age in 2018.

It has been shown that the earlier young people engage in politics, the greater the chance that they will sustain a lifelong interest in and commitment to voting and participation in the democratic process. This has been proven in Scotland where, since the voting age was lowered, youth interest in politics has increased. We cannot expect young people to be fully interested in things they are not allowed to fully engage in. If we in this Chamber were truly interested in strengthening the democratic process and increasing political participation, then we could only be in favour of this legislation.

This legislation would have a considerably positive impact on rural constituencies such as my Donegal constituency. At 18, young people move away from home to college, training or work and they then fall through the administrative cracks. Lowering the voting age would significantly increase voter participation among the 18 to 25 age group. This legislation would then not only affect the 130,000 16- and 17-year-olds in this country, but the many 18- to 25-year-olds who have had to move away at 18 and are unlikely to properly settle into a constituency until their early to mid-20s. This affects a great many in my constituency who have no choice but to move away due to lack of opportunities and who often do not come back, or settle elsewhere, until much later.

Most importantly, I strongly believe young people should have a say on issues which will directly affect them and their future. Issues such as climate change need young voices. Only they can understand the urgency, as only they will have to live through its impact. I was inspired by the young people who came and spoke in the Seanad two weeks ago. It was brilliant to see young people speaking that passionately about climate change. The debate demonstrated just how important young voices are in shaping Ireland’s future.

I was also completely taken back by students from Loreto Letterkenny who came to speak about mica to politicians in Leinster House last week. I will take this opportunity to thank Ríoghnach, Eve, Adithi, Alice and Jennifer. The presentation they made was truly fantastic and they demonstrated that issues such as mica require young voices and young ideas. They are affected by that issue every bit as much as their parents and family members but they do not have a say in how it is resolved, because they are not allowed to vote. The right to vote should be extended to 16- and 17-year-olds in order that these voices are heard. Young people breathe life into tired issues and we desperately need their contribution to strengthen the politics and policies in this country, once and for all.

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