John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator. This is at least the second time that we have had this discussion on Commencement Matters. I acknowledge that the Senator and other Members are strong advocates for a reduction in the voting age to 16, which was recommended by the report of the Constitutional Convention in 2013, as the Senator pointed out.

The convention examined this issue extensively and during its deliberations, three ballots took place to inform its proposals in the matter. In the first ballot, there was a small majority, 52%, in favour of the proposal that the voting age be reduced. In the second ballot, the members were asked to consider whether to reduce the voting age to either 17 years or to 16 years and the stronger support was for the latter reduction, 48% supported a reduction to 16 while 39% were in favour of a reduction to 17 and 14% expressed no opinion. A third ballot was also held on whether the voting age should be reduced for some types of elections only, for example, local elections. The overwhelming view of the convention did not support a reduction in the voting age for specific types of elections only, which is why the Government opposed the Bill to which the Senator referred. Some 68% of the members of the Constitutional Convention, which was by far the widest margin in a vote on any of these matters, said that there should be no difference between voting ages.I do not think it was too controversial a position for the Government to have adopted when that Bill was being considered.

In line with the majority opinion of its members, the First Report of the Convention on the Constitution contained a recommendation to the effect that a referendum be held in order to amend the Constitution to reduce the voting age to 16 for all elections. Against this background, on 26 September 2017 the Government announced an indicative timetable for the holding of a number of referendums that came from the work of both the Citizens' Assembly and the convention. Included in that indicative timetable was the referendum on reducing the voting age to 16, which, subject to the timely passage of a Constitution Amendment Bill by each House of the Oireachtas, was to be held on the date of the local and European elections scheduled to take place in late May 2019. The forthcoming European Parliament elections must be held in all member states between 23 and 26 May next. Two further referendums were also to be held on the same date as the local and European elections.

The Department is responsible for the development of the necessary constitutional (amendment) Bill in respect of reducing the voting age to 16. On a related matter, it will also be responsible for bringing forward appropriate amending legislation regarding extending the franchise at presidential elections to Irish citizens' resident outside the State. These referendums, when held, will address two of the recommendations of the Convention on the Constitution. If passed, these amendments to the Constitution would give rise to the need for supplementary amendments to the Electoral Acts in order to address the practical considerations that would arise. However, at its meeting on 4 December 2018, the Government reviewed further the progress on the overall programme of Bills to amend the Constitution. Having regard to other referendums proposed to be progressed in the short term and having particular regard to the heavy legislative programme scheduled for the first half of this year arising from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the Government agreed that only two referendums will be held in tandem with the local and European elections and that further consideration will have to be given to the timing of a referendum on reducing the voting age to 16. While the Government remains committed to the holding of a referendum to reduce the voting age to 16 years, it is not proposed that said referendum will be held this year.

I am sorry that the Senator feels cynical about the Government's position but, as matters stand, people will be obliged to complete two ballot papers for the local and European elections. With two referendums, there would be two further papers. There will be several plebiscites at which people will be obliged to complete five ballot papers. I may be wrong but I do not think that we have ever had an election day when there have been five ballot papers. The idea that there would be a sixth was actively considered by me and the franchise section and we formed the view that it would be too much. We also had to be cognisant of the fact that in terms of the preparation of the Bills necessary to hold referendums, there is only certain scope in the Department to continue with them. Preference was given to the question of those outside the State and whether they would have the right to vote in presidential elections.

Deputy Adams tabled a Bill in the Dáil which combined voting for citizens overseas and reducing the presidential voting age. I had a meeting with him in the middle of last year and we discussed several of the issues involved. He was to revert to me and the Department but never did so. That is not a sufficient excuse but I would have expected a response within the past eight months to some of the queries that I and the officials raised at our meeting, particularly if he was interested in ensuring that those referendums would be held. The Government's position is that it wants the referendum to be held but we cannot have a polling day on which people would be given more than five ballot papers. That is why the decision was made at the end of last year that only two referendums would be held in conjunction with the two elections and the plebiscite.