Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Speaking to the section, the Bill is not going to be supported by Fianna Fáil in one way or another. It is Fianna Fáil policy but I could have torn its amendments apart. It has had 12 months since we last dealt with this, when its members said they needed time to go through the Bill. I wonder what Fianna Fáil has been doing for the past 12 months so that its members cannot consider a Bill that is only a few lines long. The youth wing of Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are good enough to go out on the streets to canvass, fundraise and knock on doors to get people to vote for them but they are not good enough to cast a vote. I do not understand what the parties are afraid of and I ask Fianna Fáil, now that their amendments have been ruled out of order, to support the Bill and continue with their promise to reduce the voting age to 16 in local and European elections in 2019.

I remind the House that Senator Murnane O'Connor said, "We support the principle of the Bill but we believe that the proper scrutiny should take place before it goes to Committee Stage." That was a year ago and surely that has been enough time for proper scrutiny. Senator Davitt said, "Fine Gael can discuss whatever it wants to do, for example, sending this matter to a committee, but I do not know why that needs to be the case." However, that is exactly what the party proposes to do today. Senator Wilson said:

[W]hen we resume after Christmas. I give a commitment to this House that if this matter is not put on the agenda by the Government, I will table it on behalf of the Fianna Fáil Party.

The party, however, tabled two amendments designed to weaken the legislation and delay this crucial Bill. In the last debate, Senator Horkan said:

I do not want anybody in this Chamber to say Fianna Fáil is not in favour of implementation of this proposal in the fullness of time. We absolutely want it to happen.

However, the party tabled amendments designed to set up a committee with no time limit, and which would clearly not have allowed Fianna Fáil's own manifesto commitment to be realised.

All I ask is that Senators in this House stand by the statements they made the last time we debated this Bill. We have already been forced to wait 12 months due to a Fianna Fáil amendment stalling the Bill as they attempted to support lowering the voting age while delaying every attempt to make it happen in practice. Let us not do that again. Let us empower our young people to participate in politics. We can do it today. We do not need a special committee to write a report telling us what we already know, which is that the strongest and most vibrant democracies are those that include all citizens, young and old. I strongly oppose any more delays to this Bill and I urge Senators to support it.