Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will come to them. I am quite supportive of Senator Boyhan's comments regarding the need for the Government to take on board the amendments. When dealing with a youth motion, where does one start and where does one stop in the context of what we could have put in and what we left out? Every issue that goes through these Houses is relevant to young people. I will speak later about the importance of lowering the voting age to 16. I want to open my contribution with the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, data released last week, which outlined how the pandemic has hit young workers the hardest. That should be a wake-up call for the Government and policy-makers here that we cannot return to business as usual after the pandemic. The ESRI report came after the publication of data from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, EUROSTAT, and the European Commission's statistical division, all of which showed the scale of the pandemic and the Covid crisis on young people. Reports from all three organisations outlined that the pandemic has hit young workers the hardest. We know there were 112,000 fewer 15 to 34-year-olds in paid work in the final quarter of 2020 than the year before. Employment was 14% below its pre-pandemic level for those 15 to 34 year olds. Part of the reason for the disproportionate impact of job losses on young people is that they were more likely to have been employed in retail, hospitality, arts and leisure sectors, all of which have been affected by the Covid crisis.The data also reinforced one of the greatest threats to our society and economy, namely, the scale of intergenerational division and inequality that exists. Young people are locked out of housing and their earnings have stagnated. Young workers in their early 20s earned less in the 2010s than their counterparts did in the 1990s and the 2000s. A progressive country should prioritise a high wage and the kind of progressive growth in the economy that delivers for young people and society.

We could not include everything in the amendments. It was a case of "our demands most moderate are, we only want the earth." However, I will touch on what is contained in Sinn Féin's amendment. We make reference to the need to increase youth work and funding for youth work services in order to bring us back to 2008 levels. There is a perfect storm in the youth sector. Funding has not been restored and that is having a huge impact on volunteers. Youth services are looking for a major programme from Government, with funding to match, for education and training in order to bring funding back to 2008 levels. Youth services have an enormous financial impact on the State in regard to volunteering. The impact of the pandemic notwithstanding, the existing funding shortfall is creating a perfect storm in the youth sector. There is a major supply issue in the context of volunteers and the funding is not there to run many important programmes.

Our amendment also refers to the student contribution charge. It has been a long-held demand of the left that student fees be reduced. The charge involves no small sum. People are more impatient having seen what can be done in terms of how the State can respond to the pandemic. Our politics are on a trajectory we can all see. Young people have huge political influence as well, so we need to address these issues.

In terms of mental health, there will need to be surge capacity in terms of the provision that will be needed in the months ahead. Action is needed in this regard.

My final point relates to the proposal to lower the voting age to 16. We can do this without the need for a constitutional amendment. We can do it through legislation relating to European and local elections. It has been a long-time commitment of the Green Party to achieve what is proposed in this regard. Fianna Fáil has committed to it in successive election manifestos. Fine Gael has committed to it in the past. Ultimately, as many people as possible should be allowed to vote. We know from elections and the independence referendum in Scotland that young people aged 16 or 17 come out to vote in greater numbers than those in the 18 to 25 age category. I urge the Minister, who has responsibility for youth, to get behind that initiative and to bring his Cabinet colleagues with him in support of lowering the voting age in advance of the 2024 local elections. This can be achieved. It would be welcome if councillors across the State committed to supporting that change through motions. I call on them to do that, particularly as there is an impression there is not support in the political system for making that change. I am of the view that it should be done.