Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 13:

In page 21, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(c) examine the age at which a person is entitled to be included in the register of electors, in particular in relation to persons aged 16 and 17.”.

I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this series of amendments. While they are in the names of the Sinn Féin Seanadóirí, it is fair to say they have been driven in the first instance primarily by our colleague, Senator Warfield, who unfortunately is unable to attend the Seanad today and sends the Minister of State his apologies.

I also welcome our visitors to the Chamber. They have campaigned on this issue for quite some time and many of them are engaged in political and community activism and understand and advocate the importance of giving 16- and 17-year-olds a vote in European and local government elections.

These amendments seek to establish a committee in the new electoral commission to examine reducing the voting age to 16 years. We are seeking to amend section 14 of the Electoral Reform Bill to state specifically that the new electoral commission may establish a committee to examine the age at which a person is entitled to be registered as a European Parliament and local government elector, in particular in relation to persons aged 16 and 17.

In the previous Oireachtas, my colleagues and I put forward the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting at 16) Bill 2016. That Bill remains on the Order Paper of the Seanad, and is joined by an identical Fianna Fáil Seanad Bill from 2021. On two occasions, in March 2017 and March 2018, our Bill was delayed by a majority of Senators ar an drochuair. In the meantime, neither the Department nor the Minister has given further consideration to lowering the voting age to 16 or 17 years. While I welcome the programme for Government commitment to examine the Scottish experience of reducing the voting age to 17 years to draw conclusions, action has yet to be taken on this commitment. It is almost ten years since the constitutional convention also recommended a referendum to reduce the voting age to 16 years. All these delays prove there is no guarantee this issue will be progressed. We should use the opportunity of Committee Stage of the Bill before us to state specifically that the new electoral commission may establish a committee to examine lowering the voting age.

In May 2021, 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds voted in the Welsh Senedd elections for the first time. The voting age reform process in Wales was based on a wide-ranging consultation with young people, youth organisations, educators, officials and stakeholders in politics, local government and the private sector.The Seanad and the Dáil have discussed at length the merits of lowering the voting age, so it is time that we moved the discussion towards the necessary requirements for successful implementation. This is what all our amendments, as stated, seek to do. I hope that colleagues across the Chamber can support these amendments. We are interested in hearing what they have to say and the Minister of State's response.

Let us be honest and call a spade a spade: we have talked enough about this. We have seen in very close proximity to this jurisdiction the benefits of enfranchising young people with a vote and what it can do. Let us be honest again: when we go out to fight elections or political campaigns, we are all quite content to rely on many of our youth activists, aged 16 and 17, who are go hiomlán díograsach and very enthusiastic, dedicated and committed. We actually know — I remember we discussed this during our own vote-at-16 Bill — that the political issues we deal with and the legislative change we discuss and hope to bring about are very often driven in the first instance by young people, be these issues associated with marriage equality or a woman's right to choose.

In my experience in recent months and years, the absolutely vibrant campaign demanding Acht na Gaeilge, an Irish-language Act, in the Six Counties, has been driven primarily by young people. Therefore, we need to accept, understand and agree that young people aged 16 and 17 exist outside the classroom and the youth club and act accordingly. They work and many of them contribute to political life, have relationships and have an understanding of politics. They have a right to have a voice and stake in society.

When I look around, I am inspired by the leadership of young people, particularly on issues such as climate change and the biodiversity emergency. More power to their elbow. They should be given a vote and a greater stake in political change and driving political change. This is a modest ask in the greater scheme of things given that it relates to European and local government elections in the first instance. However, I want to get to the point where, right across the board and in the North and South, we have a uniform approach to ensuring that we value our 16- and 17-year-old citizens. We must give to them – I do not mean that to sound patronising — or entrust them with the responsibility they so clearly deserve, are demanding and will cherish, hold dear and treat with the utmost respect in delivering positive political and perhaps electoral change where required. Sin mo mhéid ag an bpointe seo. I look forward to the response of the Minister of State and the remarks of other colleagues.