Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I also welcome the people who are seated in the public Gallery, in particular the young people.

Like previous Senators, I thank Senators Fintan Warfield, Pádraig Mac Lochlainn and Lynn Ruane for sponsoring the Bill. I think I have spoken about the Bill before and I fully support same. It is important that we again state our commitment to the legislation.

As the Minister of State will be fully aware, the Young Fine Gael movement has adopted a strong line in terms of the legislation. A number of them have contacted me, particularly after the last time we discussed the legislation. Senator Neale Richmond was a great advocate of it in terms of his politics within Young Fine Gael and empowering young people aged 16 and 17 years to have a say. I do not quite know how the matter has got lost in Fine Gael but that is a matter for the party. Senator Richmond was here before and made a good case for the legislation but it never went any further, which is a pity.

It is important that we engage with people, tap into youth and explore diversity. Young people bring something to politics with their rich ideas and different ways of expression. For that matter, every age brings something to politics in terms of the social life of our society and engagement with same. Let us reflect on the fact that a 16 year old can do the following: consent to medical treatment; leave school and enter the workplace or training; be paid and be eligible to pay tax, including the universal social charge, USC, on his or her income; obtain tax credits and welfare benefits in his or her own right; the common age of sexual consent, whether heterosexual or homosexual, is 17 year of age; enter a meaningful and loving relationship; and become a member of a trade union. I have listed some of the things that people of this age can do yet somehow we have a problem with allowing people aged 16 and 17 years of age to engage in the political process.

On 7 March of this year, we discussed the Vótáil 100 committee, the political process and the suffrage movement. I spoke on that occasion and I shall quote the transcript of the debate. I said:

I met a girl outside the gates of Leinster House today. She told me she was 16 years old and that she would love to be in politics.

I know that when she got through the gates she took a photograph of herself standing in front of a little statue of Countess Markievicz. I asked her what stopped her from engaging in politics and said it was important to engage in one's school or college. I like to think that we will be in a position by 2019, when local elections are due to take place, to allow people who are 16 years of age to vote. The Minister of State has an enormous input into this matter due to the fact that his brief is local government and electoral reform. It is not too late for us to do something. If we are focused, committed and determined enough we can ensure that 16 and 17 year olds and, indeed, people who are up to 18 years of age, are able to vote in the local elections that will take place in 2019. We should aim to achieve that goal. I refer to the small margin of people who are currently excluded. There is a long lead in to the local elections and the European elections but we need to get moving. Ultimately, it is good and healthy to engage with all of the people because it will improve the political life of this country. I urge the Minister of State to support the Bill. I want him to set out a constructive pathway that will start this process.