Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I stand in support of the Thirty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Age of Eligibility for Election to the Office of President) Bill 2015. I too was a member of the Constitutional Convention so part of me is disappointed because it made two recommendations, namely, that the voting age be lowered to 16 and that the Presidential term be not reduced to five years or aligned with local European elections. As part of that weekend's consideration the reduction in voting age was a supplemental issue, as were the proposal that citizens be given a say in the Presidential nomination process and the issue we are discussing today.

I put an amendment down after the Constitutional Convention on the subject of reducing the voting age to 16 in European and local elections because such a change would not require a constitutional amendment. We could put it into legislation and trial it for local and European elections to see whether we would wish to do it on a permanent basis. The Government needs to give it greater consideration, as they have done in other countries. We had some important inputs from the convention on the issue.

Today's issue is to reduce the age for Presidential candidates I am disappointed with some of the commentary in the media which dismisses this as a joke. Anything that changes our Constitution is extremely serious and we need to take each issue on its merits. I believe the Irish people could handle several referendums on one day if we had a permanent electoral commission looking at elections and referendums to ensure they are carried out appropriately and fairly. We saw in the referendums on judges' pay and Oireachtas inquiries how the Irish people can decide which way they want to vote on each issue.

A greater issue is the question on the ballot paper because sometimes that is not always clear which question a voter is answering. I also have a difficulty with how we provide information. All too often the option is a binary "Yes" or "No" but without any reasoning or other information. It is as though we have to have panels that require "Yes" or "No" and I wonder about how this will work on the question of presidential age. Some people will turn it into a joke so that they can get onto the "Yes" or "No" side of the debate.

I have looked at other European countries. In France the age limit was 23 until 2011 and it is now 18. The age limit is 50 in Italy, 40 in Latvia, 18 in Slovenia and 35 in Austria. There is no happy medium and it is quite an arbitrary issue depending on the country. Other countries are looking at the issue at the moment. Across the water, Queen Elizabeth became Queen at 25, although that was not in an election so I do not necessarily want to draw the comparison. If we look at history we would see people whom we would currently preclude from being President. For example, two signatories to the Proclamation of Independence, Joseph Plunkett and Seán McDermott, who were leading figures in the Rising, were below the age required to serve as Uachtarán na hÉireann. Michael Collins, who was taken at the young age of 35, never could have been President of Ireland. In these cases the Irish people would never have had the choice and that is the point. Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington, a suffragette, was 34 when she founded the Irish Women Workers' union. Rosie Hackett was 19 when she co-founded the union. Charles Stewart Parnell was 34 when he became leader of the Home Rule League. I do not want to point to people around at the moment because I do not want to be seen putting forward candidates but maybe others have some great suggestions.

In the world of business, people of a very young age lead multi-billion dollar, pound or euro businesses. I do not say they would necessarily be great Presidents but young people are in leadership positions across the world and this referendum is about widening the choice for the Irish people. Surely age has become much more arbitrary now. A person's suitability depends on their life experience and what the Irish people believe they need in a President at a given time. At different times the Irish people have chosen different leaders to suit the time. They have made excellent choices so I stand in support of opening up choice and waiting to see what candidates come forward. Why should the age be 35 or 36, depending on what language one reads the Constitution in? Why not reduce the age and allow candidates to come forward? There are issues around the nomination process, on which I have no doubt Senator Norris will elaborate. We should open the process out so that the people of Ireland have the choice of whom they wish to be President of Ireland. I support this amendment and will be encouraging a "Yes" vote.