Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted that I have provided the House with something to chuckle about. This is really serious; 16 year olds are not children. A couple of weeks ago, we tried to amend the Data Protection Bill to raise the digital age of consent to 16 and the House went berserk. Members said, "No, it should be 13." They are not going to kill us and it is unlikely they will do silly things. They will probably spend a lot more time researching how they will cast their votes than most adults of 18 plus do. Get them young. Get them in there. Get them engaged. Get them to be members of political parties. I am delighted that seems to have brought the Minister of State to life. I assume he will support the Bill given his broad smile.