Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It was not until the Constitutional Convention came to the conclusion that we should have a referendum that Fine Gael agreed that should happen. The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act almost collapsed the Government, if memory serves.

It is, therefore, of no surprise to me or members of my party that a very progressive and innovative change to the voting law proposed by Senators Warfield and Ruane would be objected to by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. I am wondering of what they are afraid. Are they afraid of young people?

Imagine the dynamic in a local or European election when a candidate knocks on a door and a young person wearing a school uniform answers it. For the first time, the candidate will not ask if the person's mammy is in because he or she would have to listen to somebody who is in school and possibly going through all of the horrendous things that Senator Mulherin related. How are we supposed to learn about the lives of 16 or 17 year olds if we do not have to act on their opinions? Would it not be fantastically engaging to have a line of local election candidates in a secondary school or a youth club answering questions from young people as to what they are going to do with the property tax and what services would be improved?

I hate to tell the House this, but I am a guy with a mortgage and when one has a mortgage one gets a bit weird and begins to worry about stuff that will happen in one's area. One becomes a little bit more conservative when it comes to halting sites, injecting and drug treatment centres and social housing. Would not it be wonderful if a generation of young people without mortgages could stand up for decency, equality, public services and the things in which they fundamentally believe before they are beaten into the ground by our obsession with living in a capitalist society that chains them to mortgages and holding onto their castles for the rest of their lives?

I spent 11 years as a teacher and learned more from the children I taught than I ever taught them. I am fully behind this suggestion. I remind everybody in the Chamber that when the Constitutional Convention decided, in its wisdom, that we should do such radical things as removing suggestions that women belong in the home from the Constitution and one should have the right to marry the person one loves, it was also asked whether it wanted to reduce the voting age to 17 years of age. It said "No" and instead recommended that it should be reduced to 16 years of age. We do not need a referendum to do what Senators Warfield and Ruane are suggesting. What is actually needed is legislation.

Everybody has spoken about the Scottish experience when it held a referendum on independence and the number of young people who finally engaged in the democratic process. I believe in the idealism of youth. It would be wonderful to allow younger people to vote.

When people turn 18, they have their first chance to vote and are more likely to be disconnected from their home because they may in college and are living away from home. If the buses are on strike because the Minister concerned does not want to know about it, young people will find it difficult to travel back to where they are from in order to cast their votes. If young people were still living in the area where they could vote for the first time that would provide a fantastic opportunity for local politics and councils to engage. They are very much part of the lives of young people, in terms of local facilities and infrastructure.

I am not surprised by the opposition of Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil to the proposal, rather I am disappointed. In fairness, they have said they are willing to work in order to make this a reality but, to be honest, if they fundamentally believed in it and young people, they would back the proposal.