Holly Cairns (Cork South-West, Social Democrats)

I welcome everybody in the Gallery. It is great to have them here today. I thank my colleague, Deputy Farrelly, for all of his passion and hard work on this issue.

Sixteen-year-olds in Ireland are mature enough to work, pay taxes, care for family members and make their own medical decisions. If they are old enough to make those choices and contribute to society in those ways, why would they not be allowed to vote? We should be actively looking for more ways for them to participate in our democracy, not to continue to exclude them from it. The young people I meet are engaged, thoughtful and politically aware. They deserve a say in the fact that they are working for a sub-minimum wage. They deserve a say in the failure to take action on the climate crisis that will affect their generation more than any other. They deserve to see a future for themselves in Ireland where they can afford to live in the communities they are growing up in. Young people deserve the right to vote. Other countries like Austria, Scotland and Malta have already taken this step and the evidence is clear. When young people are trusted to vote, they take that responsibility seriously, they turn out and they stay engaged. We should be racing to follow that example, not dragging our heels.

Lowering the voting age is about saying to young people that we see you, we value you and we trust you. This is not just about age; it is about access. I know all too well how powerful a single vote can be. I tell the story of winning my first election by one vote quite often to try to energise people because too often, people feel like their vote does not matter and their one vote will never be the one that makes a difference. Having experienced that whole "one vote" debacle, I never want to contemplate not being able to vote myself again. Of course, my baby decided to arrive on polling day last year and like every other person on the maternity ward that day, I could not vote in the general election. It is frankly scary how easily people can be locked out of our democratic process - people in hospital, people on holiday, citizens in the North, long-term residents who just cannot afford citizenship and those who have recently emigrated. All of them have a right to be heard but so many cannot vote.

We need to change that. If we truly believe in democracy, we must make it easier for people to participate, not harder. That means expanding access to postal voting, having polling stations in hospitals, looking at automatic voter registration and recognising the rights of people in the North to have a say in shaping our shared future. The principle is simple: every person who wants to take part in our democracy should be able to do so.

Lowering the voting age to 16 is part of that vision. It is a step towards a more open and inclusive republic. We have an opportunity to inspire a new generation of voters and to show them that their voices matter now and not later.

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