Colette Kelleher (Independent) | Oireachtas source

With average room rents of €80 per week, thousands of young people are left with €20 per week on which to survive. Those in work face the exploitation of zero-hour contracts, JobBridge and unpaid internships, even in this House. Those who wish to study now pay the second highest fees in Europe, with pledges to freeze fees having been shattered. Care leavers have been left to drift with no supports and 250,000 young people emigrated during the economic crisis. Millennials are the first generation to be poorer than their parents since the Great Famine of the 1840s. Politics have not protected young people and the least we owe them is a say, a vote and a voice. Reducing the voting age could be truly transformative. This is real political reform which would lead to meaningful change but if it is to be in place for 2019 we need to act now and reject any attempt to delay.