Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Members for the discussions in here and conversations. Certainly, we all come from different backgrounds, but as always in the Seanad, people's convictions are as consistent as ever, which I always respect. Where I cannot meet people halfway, I try to go as far as I can. The amendments that I brought in here today arising from Committee Stage stem from the different suggestions that were made in this House.

The purpose of this Bill is to give young people and parents a voice, and it is particularly focused on the youth voice. Anybody involved in politics globally at this stage knows that the youth voice is getting louder and stronger, so it is a case of what we do to facilitate that voice. I hope that this Bill will act as a mechanism to meet that demand coming from young people. Any of the challenges, such as the last one raised by the Senator in terms of technology in classrooms, at the heart of those challenges have to be young people because they are people who were born after the Internet came into existence. I think the sociological label for young people is digital natives. Some of us in this House were born at a time when there was not even a landline. I am assuming that the Leas-Chathaoirleach and I are in the same boat.